News Related to Arthritis

1. When Did Merck Know Vioxx Was Deadly?
   

   Nov. 23, 2009 - Merck should have known Vioxx was deadly years before they pulled the drug from the market, a study of Merck's own data suggests. The study, published in the current issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, is by Joseph S. Ross, MD, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and colleague

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2. How Rheumatoid Arthritis Spreads
   

   Nov. 9, 2009 -- Cells surrounding joints affected by rheumatoid arthritis may spread the disease to other joints by traveling through blood vessels, according to a new study. Rheumatoid arthritis is a progressive disease that causes joint inflammation and destruction. Researchers say initially the d

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3. Study Eases Arthritis Drug Cancer Fears
   

   Oct. 29, 2009 - Rheumatoid arthritis patients who take the biologic drugs Remicade, Humira, and Enbrel do not appear to have an increased risk for developing cancer in the first few years of use, researchers in Sweden report. The study is one of the largest and longest population-based investigation

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4. Glucosamine May Not Fight Osteoarthritis
   

   Oct. 21, 2009 (Philadelphia) -- Using a more sensitive measure of joint damage than in the past, researchers have found that the popular supplement glucosamine does not appear to slow the progression of knee osteoarthritis. Previous studies that used X-rays to determine whether glucosamine can preve

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5. Study: No Benefit to Costly Arthritis Drugs
   

   Oct. 21, 2009 (Philadelphia) -- For many people with rheumatoid arthritis, the traditional, and much cheaper, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) appear to work just as well as newer TNF blockers that target the underlying disease process, a large study shows. The findings also suggest th

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6. Insecticides May Raise Risk of Lupus, RA
   

   Oct. 20, 2009 (Philadelphia) -- Women who spray their homes and gardens with insecticides may be placing themselves at risk for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, a study shows.  In a study of more than 75,000 women, those who used insecticides six or more times a year had nearly two-and-a-half times t

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7. New Drug May Reduce Severity of Lupus
   

   Oct. 20, 2009 (Philadelphia) -- The first in a new class of experimental drugs that targets the disease process involved in lupus beat out standard treatment in a large clinical trial, researchers say. If the findings hold up, the drug, Benlysta, could become the first new drug for lupus in five dec

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8. Fighting Gout With Skim Milk and Water
   

   Oct. 19, 2009 (Philadelphia) -- There's a new reason to drink plenty of water and skim milk: Both may help to prevent painful gout attacks, new studies show. "With gout, we spend a lot of time telling patients what they can't do -- to avoid beer and red meat, for example," says University of Aucklan

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9. Medications for RA Linked to Skin Cancer
   

   Oct. 19, 2009 (Philadelphia) -- People who take immune-disease drugs called TNF blockers for rheumatoid arthritis should check their bodies regularly for abnormal growths that can signal skin cancer. That's the advice of doctors after two new studies showed that patients treated with TNF blockers ha

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10. Genetic Link to Lupus
    

    Oct. 19, 2009 -- At least a dozen or more genes may help explain what causes lupus, according to two new studies. Researchers have identified 12 genetic variants that are associated with an increased risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the disease commonly referred to as lupus. Lupus is an a

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