A team of researchers St. James Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, conducted a study that found the erectile dysfunction (ED) has a higher prevalence in men who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Previous studies have linked erectile dysfunction to vascular events, such as stroke and heart attacks, but this study indicates that there ...
In one of the most exciting discoveries, researchers at the Hanson Institute in Adelaide and the St. Vincent’s Institute in Melbourne believe they have made great progress on developing a new treatment which will ‘stop’ leukemia and inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.
The discovery relates to the way ...
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an auto-immune, inflammatory disease. People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have higher levels of inflammatory proteins, called cytokines, and other cytokine related factors in their blood. According to a recent study, those markers are present as many as three years before any RA symptoms emerge.
Previous studies have ...
Researchers at Imperial College London (officially The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) have identified a protein that acts as a “master switch” for certain white blood cells to govern whether they increase or impede inflammation. The results of this study could lead to the development of new treatments ...
Although recent advancements in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapies have led to a increased number of available treatments, quite a few of those therapies have side effects that result in some users discontinuing treatment or seeking complementary and alternative medicines.
A recently published study shows that the Chinese herb Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF), also known as “lei gong teng” or “thunder god vine,” improved joint tenderness and pain in a small sampling of people treated with the medicinal plant.
The report says that people who took an extract of the herb’s roots for 6 months experienced significant improvement in RA symptoms compared to those who took the anti-inflammatory drug sulfasalazine.
Thunder God Vine
Scientists say that thunder god vine has been used for centuries in China to treat an assortment of inflammatory diseases, and a few small clinical trials have suggested that the thunder god vine may benefit people with rheumatoid arthritis.
This study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine,
To perform the analysis, 121 people with rheumatoid arthritis were randomly assigned to take 60 milligrams of TwHF 3 times a day or 1 gram of sulfasalazine twice a day for 24 weeks.
Dr. Christine Laine, an internist who edited the study, said
“It is too early to say whether or not the study defines a specific role for the therapy. The finding brings forward convincing evidence that thunder god vine has an effect similar to that of sulfasalazine.”
However, the thunder god vine may also cause unwanted side effects, and has the potential to significantly reduce male sperm.
Sixty-two patients dropped out before prior to completing the study. But after 24 weeks of treatment, researchers found 67% of the people taking TwHF experienced at least 20% improvement on a standard measure of rheumatoid arthritis symptoms than the other group.
Researcher Raphaela Goldbach-Mansky, MD, MHS, of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues say the study was not long enough to demonstrate if thunder god vine also helped to hinder the progression of joint destruction from RA. But if additional studies confirm these results in larger numbers of people, thunder god vine may provide an affordable natural treatment option for rheumatoid arthritis.
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Originally posted 2009-08-18 20:34:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
A recent research study has shown that when a patient’s first Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) symptoms occur can have an impact on the severity of the disease. If the disease onset was in winter the outcome was worse six months later when compared to patients whose symptoms began in summer.
Furthermore, RA patients that showed their first symptoms in spring also showed poorer outcomes compared to summer-onset patients.
The research was led by Dr. Gaël Mouterde of the Immuno-Rheumatology Department at Lapeyronie Hospital, Montpellier, France. The research analyzed x-rays from the French ESPOIR cohort and included 736 patients who were 36 to 60 years old. Of these, 567 were women.
According to Dr. Mouterde; “During our study of predictors of radiographic progression, we have unveiled a distinct relationship between RA progression and seasonal onset and postulate that this could be as a result of either a vitamin D deficiency or environmental factors, such as winter viruses, influencing protein citrullination. This finding may assist towards the identification of RA patients at a higher risk of developing structural damage, in order to propose early intensive therapy and minimize disease progression.”
No differences were visible in study participants a full year later. Researchers think that’s because these initial environmental factors have less of an effect over the long term.
Results of a new study were presented at EULAR 2009, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Originally posted 2009-11-13 06:50:10. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
A new study indicates that women who frequently used insecticides in their homes over a period of years may have increased their risk for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus.
According to the research, women who sprayed insecticides at least six times a year had double the risk of developing autoimmune disease compared to women who didn’t use insecticides.
In addition, the study led by Christine G. Parks, PhD, an epidemiologist with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, found almost the same risk of autoimmune disease among women from environments with long-term insecticide spraying by commercial companies.
“We also saw that long-term application of insecticides by others in the home or in the lawn or garden about doubled disease risk,” she said.
The researchers studied the records of 76,861 postmenopausal and mostly white women between the ages of 50-79 who were enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study. Parks and associates focused on questions relating to farm history and insecticide use.
Of the women whose records were examined, 178 were eventually diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and 28 with lupus. There were seven other women who were diagnosed with both lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Parks said investigators found that a history of just working or living on a farm — although relatively frequent among the women in the survey — did not appear to increase risk of rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.
But compared to people who had never used insecticides, women who had personally mixed or applied insecticides regularly had double the risk of a rheumatic disease.
“About 46% of the rheumatoid arthritis cases occurred among women who mixed or applied insecticides themselves,” Parks said.
Parks cited studies showing that up to 75% of U.S. households use insecticides in the home or garden, with 20% of householders reporting that they had applied insecticide in the month before being surveyed. She also noted that insecticides don’t break down readily in the home environment.
“Our results also provide support for the idea that environmental factors may increase susceptibility or trigger the development of autoimmune diseases in some individuals,” said Parks. “We need to start thinking about what chemicals or other factors related to insecticide use could explain these findings.”
The researchers did indicate that there were some limitations to the study because the questions asked about insecticides did not address specific products.
“It is important to note that these are still relatively uncommon diseases affecting only a small percentage of adults, but I believe it provides proof of principle that these environmental exposures may be risk factors that need to be studied more thoroughly,” she said.
“Although our findings are not proof of a causal relationship with products currently on the market and available for household use,” Parks said, “I think the take-home message is that people should always follow recommended practices to reduce their individual exposures.”
The research was presented at the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting.
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Originally posted 2009-11-07 13:09:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine says that more than 25% of men with hemochromatosis, the most common inherited blood disorder, will develop arthritis, liver cancer and other serious complications.
Hemochromatosis is a condition where the body absorbs up to three times the normal amount of iron. Over an extended period of time, this causes an excess of iron to build up in the vital organs, joints and tissues. This can lead to a number of debilitating and potentially fatal conditions, including liver and heart disease, diabetes and arthritis.
Because the early symptoms of the disease, which include fatigue, weakness, weight loss, abdominal pain and joint pain, are often attributed to other conditions, hemochromatosis can be difficult to diagnose.
In order for the disease to be inherited, a person needs to have received the defective gene from both parents.
The study included 1,438 randomly selected, healthy adults that were followed for 12 years. Of those participants, 95 men and 105 women had inherited the defective gene from both parents. This made them susceptible to absorbing too much iron from their normal diet.
Of the 95 men, nearly 30% exhibited excessive iron in their tissues and organs. Only 1.2% of the women exhibited the excessive level of iron. The researchers surmised that women were less affected as a result of the blood (and iron) lost during menstruation and pregnancy.
It is estimated that 1 in 300-400 people is affected by the disease. It is most common in Northern Europeans, especially people of Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English decent.
The most common treatment is by removal of blood comparable in volume to a blood donation. Also, limiting intake of alcohol, vitamin C (increase iron absorption in the gut), red meat (high iron content), while increasing intake of iron absorption inhibitors such as high-tannin tea and calcium.
The study, conducted by more than a dozen researchers in Australia and the U.S., was published in the January 17th issue of the NEJM.
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Originally posted 2008-01-29 19:58:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Fibromyalgia is a disorder which results in chronic widespread pain along with debilitating fatigue, abnormal sleep patterns, bowel disturbances and cognitive dysfunction. The cause of fibromyalgia is not known, but altered function of the central nervous system is thought to be a possible cause. Genetic disposition is also a possible cause.
The Missouri General Assembly will be considering legislation to create a state fibromyalgia awareness and outreach campaign.
The bill, sponsored by Representative Shalonn Curls, of Kansas City, would require the Missouri Dept. of Health and Senior Services to appoint, convene and support a voluntary Fibromyalgia Panel. The pane would have 2 directives:
1. Raise “at least $50,000” through private funding to mount a state fibromyalgia education and outreach campaign, targeting needs such as early diagnosis & treatment and improved quality of life, and in consultation with the National Fibromyalgia Association.
2. Work with other agencies at the state and local levels to promote delivery of Fibromyalgia education and training to doctors and other healthcare professionals.
The bill would also allow doctors, and others authorized to prescribe medication, to override restrictions on medications for treatment of fibromyalgia imposed by pharmacy benefit managers – in carefully defined circumstances and “to the extent that the Panel obtains private funding for the purpose.”
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Originally posted 2008-03-03 18:37:39. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
A new one time treatment is being tested by scientists in Great Britain which could potentially “switch off” rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers are theorizing that the drug will turn off the immune system response that is the cause of the debilitating disease. This may put the RA patient into remission for years, or even potentially for life.
The trials, led by Clinical Rheumatology Professor John Isaacs at Newcastle, are scheduled to start next month and will initially involve 40 patients.
The drug being tested is called otelixizumab which was used in the past in stronger doses to prevent rejection of organs by transplant patients.
Otelixizumab targets T-cells, white blood cells that are part of the body’s immune system which are key to the process in RA. The researchers believe that if they can “switch off” the signals from the T-cells they can halt RA at the source.
The trial participants will receive a one-off dose of otelixizumab, administered intravenously for between two and five hours a day over five consecutive days. Current treatments for rheumatoid arthritis can send patients into remission, but these they have to be administered on an ongoing basis.
“There is the potential that this switch off could last forever. Perhaps this would only be in patients who we treat at the early stage of the disease. However, the chance of this happening in patients who have had the disease for a while is not altogether absent” says Professor Isaacs.
If the trials show that the treatment is successful researchers hope that they can develop a form of the drug which can be easily injected by the patients themselves.
If successful, the drug could be available to patients within a decade.
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Originally posted 2010-04-15 12:22:08. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
A new study, led by Georg Schett of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Erlangen, Germany, reports that vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) is a significant predictor of knee and hip joint replacement as a result of severe osteoarthritis (OA). VCAM-1 is a combination sugar and protein that is found on cells in cartilage and connective tissues.
The study included data from 912 healthy people in Bruneck, Italy. Of the study group, 60 underwent knee or hip replacement as a result of severe OA during a 15 year follow up period. The study participants were given a baseline exam in 1990 and five year follow-up exams until 1995. Among other analyses, the participant’s blood samples were analyzed for VCAM-1.
The results of the study showed that VCAM-1 levels were significantly elevated in the 60 people who underwent joint replacement. The highest baseline exam levels were found in those who underwent multiple joint replacements.
“The level of VCAM-1 emerged as a significant predictor of the risk of joint replacement due to severe OA, equaling or even surpassing the effects of age.”
They also note that inclusion of VCAM-1 levels in risk prediction models resulted in a more accurate classification of individuals.
Establishing laboratory biomarkers for severe osteoarthritis is important for several reasons. The standard risk factors of weight and age are not adequate for accurate risk prediction. In addition, OA is a highly widespread disease and it would be helpful to accurately recognize those who are at greater risk of developing rapid progression or severe disease.
Early diagnosis would also be advantageous because the disease is present before clinical symptoms are present.
Ultimately, a better predictive tool for severe osteoarthritis would help identify patients for treatments such as aerobic exercise, strength training and weight loss. the first to establish a laboratory marker for the risk of severe OA,
“Further clarification of the mechanism underlying the association between VCAM-1 level and OA may well contribute to a better understanding of disease etiology,” the authors conclude.
They added that application of their findings in routine clinical practice would require further studies to duplicate the results.
The study was published in the August issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
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Originally posted 2009-08-13 13:01:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Although recent advancements in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapies have led to a increased number of available treatments, quite a few of those therapies have side effects that result in some users discontinuing treatment or seeking complementary and alternative medicines.
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