Loci Orthopaedics, a Galway-based medical devices start-up that has developed a new joint implant to treat arthritis, announced on July 7 that it has raised €2.75 million in a seed round.
Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on patients with rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus
In the Philippines, in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there occurred a supply shortage of hydroxychloroquine and methotrexate. Limited access to medication and the life changes caused from the COVID-19 pandemic may prompt patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) to experience disease flares.
The researchers investigated self-reported symptoms of disease flares among patients with rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus during the COVID-19 pandemic. They collected information through online surveys from 512 patients with SLE or RA. The data included sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported physical symptoms, health service utilization, and availability of hydroxychloroquine and methotrexate.
‘My arthritis was excruciating – but then I tried natural remedies’
Emily Johnson thought the condition only affected people as they got older but, after living in agony, she knew something had to change
Emily Johnson is the author of Beat Arthritis Naturally
Credit: LOUISE ROSE PHOTOGRAPHY
When Emily Johnson developed rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 20, the pain was excruciating. But she soon learned to manage the condition with a change in diet and lifestyle.
Emily was in her final year of university when the ring finger on her right hand started to swell up. Soon the painful swelling had spread to another finger and thumbs and her skin became sensitive to touch. “It was excruciating. I couldn’t move my hands as they were stiff with fluid. It was too painful to type and I could barely hold a pen,” says Johnson. Next came the sneezing fits. “I couldn’t sleep or even talk for sneezing, but I passed it off as a cold or hay fever.”
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A population-based study of a Minnesota county found an increase in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) among women, while providing fresh evidence of the condition s highly variable clinical presentation.
In the study, published in
Arthritis & Rheumatology, 164 incident cases of PsA arose between 2000-2017, with a mean age of 46.4 (SD=12.0) years and 47% females. The overall age- and sex-adjusted annual incidence of PsA per 100,000 population was 8.5 (95% CI 7.2-9.8) and was higher in males (9.3, 95% CI 7.4- 11.3) than females (7.7, 95% CI 5.9-9.4). The incidence rate per year for females was 3% greater from 2000-2017 compared with 1970-1999.
Paras Karmacharya, MBBS, MS, is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine s Division of Rheumatology in Minnesota. He recently discussed the findings with