Information on Arthritis from the National Library of Medicine
If you feel pain and stiffness in your body or have trouble moving around, you might have arthritis. Most kinds of arthritis cause pain and swelling in your joints. Joints are places where two bones meet, such as your elbow or knee. Over time, a swollen joint can become severely damaged. Some kinds of arthritis can also cause problems in your organs, such as your eyes or skin. Read more at the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
Information on Arthritis & Other Rheumatic Diseases from Brigham's and Women's Hospital
Arthritis and other rheumatic diseases are characterized by pain, swelling, and limited movement in joints and connective tissues in the body. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 46 million people in the US have some form of arthritis or chronic joint symptoms. Arthritis, which literally means inflammation of a joint (where two or more bones meet), actually refers to more than 100 different diseases. Rheumatic diseases include any diseases that cause pain, stiffness, and swelling in joints or other supportive body structures, such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. In fact, the group of arthritis diseases falls under the category of rheumatic diseases. Read more from Brigham's and Women's Hospital.
Information on Osteoarthritis at the Arthritis Foundation
Known as the ‘wear-and-tear’ kind of arthritis, OA is a chronic condition characterized by the breakdown of the joint’s cartilage. Read more at the Arthritis Foundation website.
Information on Gout at the Mayo Clinic
Information on Gout at MayoClinic.com.
Johns Hopkins Medicine on Rheumatoid Arthritis
Learn more at the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center.
Osteoarthritis: Essentials
What is it? What are the symptoms? How is it diagnosed? How common is it? What will happen? Questions to ask. Key points about treatments at Consumer Reports.
Interactive: The "Joint Health" Quiz
Take this interactive quiz from the National Library of Medicine and the Arthritis Foundation.
Podcast: Biologics for rheumatoid arthritis
Listen to a podcast from Cochrane Reviews.
Video: Osteoarthritis-How Exercise Can Help
A 3 minute video on exercise and osteoarthritis from the NIH senior health website.
Video: Living With Gout
A 4 minute video on gout from the NIH senior health website.
Video: Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis
A 3 minute video on coping with rheumatoid arthritis from the NIH senior health website.
Podcast: Abatacept for rheumatoid arthritis
Listen to a podcast from Cochrane Reviews.
Podcast: Oral or transdermal opioids for osteoarthritis of the knee and hip
Listen to a podcast from Cochrane Reviews.
Podcast: Transcutaneous electrostimulation for osteoarthritis of the knee
Listen to a podcast from Cochrane Reviews.
Podcast: Oral or transdermal opioids for osteoarthritis of the knee and hip
Listen to a podcast from Cochrane Reviews.
Treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee (non-arthroplasty).
The authors suggest patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee be encouraged to participate in self-management educational programs such as those conducted by the Arthritis Foundation, and incorporate activity modifications (e.g., walking instead of running; alternative activities) into their lifestyle. See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
Medical management of adults with osteoarthritis.
GUIDELINE OBJECTIVE(S) To achieve significant, measurable improvements in the management of osteoarthritis through the development and implementation of common evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. To design concise guidelines that are focused on key management components of osteoarthritis to improve outcomes. See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Panel on Total knee replacement.
GUIDELINE OBJECTIVE(S) To explore and assess the current scientific knowledge regarding total knee replacement (TKR) and to address the following questions: What are the current indications for and outcomes from primary TKR? How do specific characteristics of the patient, material and design of the prosthesis, and surgical factors affect the short- and long-term outcomes of primary TKR? See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
Ottawa Panel evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for therapeutic exercises in the management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults.
INTERVENTIONS AND PRACTICES CONSIDERED: 1. Physical activity 2. Specific functional strengthening exercises 3. Whole-body functional strengthening exercises. See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
Rituximab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
GUIDELINE OBJECTIVE(S): To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of rituximab for the treatment of severe active rheumatoid arthritis in adults. See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
Abatacept for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
GUIDELINE OBJECTIVE(S): To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of abatacept for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
Febuxostat for the management of hyperuricaemia in people with gout.
Febuxostat, within its marketing authorisation, is recommended as an option for the management of chronic hyperuricaemia in gout only for people who are intolerant of allopurinol (as defined below) or for whom allopurinol is contraindicated. See National Guideline Clearinghouse major recommendations.
Abstract: Effects of dietary intervention and quadriceps strengthening exercises on pain and function in overweight people with knee pain.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether dietary intervention or knee strengthening exercise, or both, can reduce knee pain and improve knee function in overweight and obese adults in the community. Full text available free through PubMed.
Abstract: Acupuncture for pain.
Acupuncture is increasingly used as an alternative or complementary therapy for the treatment of pain. It is well tolerated, with a low risk of serious adverse effects. Traditional and modern acupuncture techniques may result in reported improvement in pain patterns. Research on acupuncture has had a number of limitations...See Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: Spa therapy in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether spa therapy, plus home exercises and usual medical treatment provides any benefit over exercises and usual treatment, in the management of knee osteoarthritis. Full text available free through PubMed.
Abstract: Gene therapy of the rheumatic diseases: 1998 to 2008.
During the decade since the launch of Arthritis Research, the application of gene therapy to the rheumatic diseases has experienced the same vicissitudes as the field of gene therapy as a whole. There have been conceptual and technological advances and an increase in the number of clinical trials. However, funding has been unreliable and a small number of high-profile deaths in human trials, including one in an arthritis gene therapy trial, have provided ammunition to skeptics. Nevertheless, steady progress has been made in a number of applications, including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, Sjögren syndrome, and lupus. Full text available free through PubMed.
Abstract: Golimumab in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis after treatment with tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibitors (GO-AFTER study): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III trial.
Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) inhibitors are frequently used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, but whether use of a different TNFalpha inhibitor can improve patient response is unknown. We assess the efficacy and safety of the TNFalpha inhibitor golimumab in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who had previously received one or more TNFalpha inhibitors. See Abstract at PubMed.
Abstract: The interleukin 1 inhibitor rilonacept in treatment of chronic gouty arthritis.
BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that blockade of the NLRP3 (cryopyrin) inflammasome interleukin 1beta (IL1beta) pathway may offer a new treatment strategy for gout. OBJECTIVE: To explore the potential utility of rilonacept (IL1 Trap) in patients with chronic active gouty arthritis in a proof-of-concept study. Full text available free through PubMed.
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"The Gout" by 18th century British artist James Gillray
Source: Wikimedia
Normal Joint vs. Arthritic Joint
Source: Wikimedia
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Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers - their stories.
Arthritis Awareness
Source: Arthritis Foundation
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We've got 30 million answers to that question. That's how many hospital records Consumers' CHECKBOOK sifted through to calculate risk-adjusted death rates and adverse-outcome rates, and that's just part of the data used to rate the hospitals. The organization also sent out more than 280,000 questionnaires to physicians in 53 major metropolitan areas in the United States, asking them to rate their local hospitals; checked ratings of the hospitals by surveyed consumers; checked which hospitals were providing recommended tests and procedures for patients with specified medical problems; and more."
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