rheumatoid arthritis

(University of Rochester Medical Center) Researchers have discovered key details of how rheumatoid arthritis destroys bone, according to a study published in the Aug. 22 edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

The findings are already guiding attempts to design new drugs to reverse RA-related bone loss and may also address more common forms of osteoporosis with a few adjustments.

A single injection of modified cells could halt the advance of rheumatoid arthritis, say UK scientists.

WASHINGTON -- A government advisory panel Tuesday recommended approval of the drug Actemra, promoted as a new type of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, a painful and disabling swelling of the joints generally kept in check with medication.

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) Updated rules add new anti-arthritic drugs and proven combinations to the arsenal for treating rheumatoid arthritis.

The RA guidelines, issued by the American College of Rheumatology, are the first update since 2002. They focus on several classes of anti-arthritic drugs, including disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and genetically engineered biologics.

A drug commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other immune-based conditions may also be effective at targeting language-related Alzheimer's disease problems.

Susan Rutherford needed to share her pain. The 43-year-old Philadelphia-area mother with rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic disease that causes severe swelling and pain in the joints, turned to the Web to seek out counsel.

She posted a message describing her fear on a site specializing in her condition...

In the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis, taking the drugs Enbrel and methotrexate may make remission more likely than taking methotrexate alone, a new study shows.

(Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) Researchers have found that a gene region known to play a role in some varieties of adult rheumatoid arthritis is also present in all types of childhood arthritis.

The researchers say the responsible gene may be a "master switch" that helps turn on the debilitating disease.

(Hospital for Special Surgery) People who have a birthweight over 10 pounds are twice as likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis when they are adults compared to individuals born with an average birthweight, according to a study published by researchers from Hospital for Special Surgery online in advance of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

While the mechanism for this association is unclear, the study identifies a potentially modifiable risk factor and highlights a potential way to decrease the incidence of the disease.

(BMJ-British Medical Journal) Heavy birthweight female babies are twice as likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis in adulthood as their average birthweight peers, suggests research published ahead of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.