Rheumatoid Arthritis Pathophysiology

This fall, the UConn School of Nursing is welcoming two new tenure-track and one new clinical faculty members. They join the School at a time when preparing its students to care for the local and global communities is more important than ever. Meet the newest members of the School of Nursing faculty: Maurade Gormley, Ph.D., C-PNP Maurade Gormley (Submitted photo). One of the School of Nursing's new assistant professors, Gormley has spent most of her academic career at New York University. In August, she traveled to Storrs to join the UConn faculty. "Building upon my experience as an oncology nurse, my research aims to optimize the psychosocial health and well-being of cancer survivors as they face the unique challenges of a cancer diagnosis," she says. Her doctoral work, funded by an F31 National Research Service Award, examined the psychosocial response to genomic testing used to predict the risk of recurrence and benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy among breast...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia Is Killing Patients. Yet There Is a Simple Way to Stop It.    MedShadow Foundation

Results from a pre-specified interim analysis of the phase 3 KarMMa-3 trial showed the primary end point of progression-free survival was met following treatment with idecabtagene vicleucel for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma following 2 to 4 previous lines of therapy and who were refractory to their last treatment. At the pre-specified interim analysis, the phase 3 KarMMa-3 trial (NCT03651128) met its primary end point of statistically significantly improved progression-free survival when patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who had previously received 2 to 4 prior lines of therapy and were refractory to their last regimen were treated with idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel; Abecma) compared with standard of care (SOC), according to a press release from Bristol Myers Squibb and 2seventy bio. 1 The interim analysis also showed improvement in the key secondary end point of overall response rate vs SOC. Additional data will be presented at an upcoming medic...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Lung Disease Types: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and Outlook    Healthgrades

If your treatment plan includes surgery, you should know that your recovery will be slower if you get pneumonia. Your medical team will take steps to prevent it, but you play an important role, too. Here's what you need to know. Image What is pneumonia? Pneumonia is an infection that causes inflammation in the tiny airways (bronchioles) and air sacs (alveoli) in your lungs. Normally the alveoli fill with air when you breathe, but when you have pneumonia, they have fluid and pus in them, so air has a hard time getting in and breathing becomes painful. Pneumonia is usually caused by bacteria, but it can also be caused by viruses, fungi and parasites. Who is at risk? Certain factors can increase your risk of pneumonia, including: Age. Under age 2 or over age 65 Environment or occupation. Spending a lot of time in crowded places (military barracks, prison, homeless shelters...

Asthma and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are long-term respiratory disorders that affect breathing. Asthma causes inflammation and narrowing of the airways. OSA leads to upper airway obstruction. Both asthma and OSA affect breathing. However, each has different causes, symptoms, and treatments. There is a link between the two conditions. Having OSA may increase asthma symptoms, and people with asthma may have a higher risk of developing OSA. Read on to learn more about asthma and OSA, treatments, and how each condition affects the other. Asthma is a respiratory disease in which a person's airways become inflamed, narrowed, and swollen with the production of excess mucus. This makes it hard for an individual to breathe comfortably. Although the cause of asthma is unclear, risk factors include obesity, allergies, and having a family history of asthma. Symptoms of asthma may include: OSA involves periods of brief pauses in breathing during sleep. The muscles in the back of the throat ...

Gout is a painful type of inflammatory arthritis characterized by sudden, severe attacks of pain, swelling, tenderness, and redness in one or more joints. Gout can affect any joint but most often affects the big toe.  Gout attacks occur suddenly. They can wake you up in the middle of the night, feeling like your big toe is on fire. The toe is so inflamed that even the weight of a light bedsheet can lead to severe pain.  People with gout often experience symptoms that come and go—periods of flare-ups (severe symptoms) and periods of remission (few or no symptoms). Gout treatment typically focuses on managing symptoms and preventing gout attacks.  This article covers gout causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and more.  Jan-Otto / Getty Images Gout Causes Gout is caused by hyperuricemia (too much uric acid in the body). The uric acid can lead to the development of sharp crystals forming in the joints....

Question What agents are best for treating uremic pruritus? Jenny A. Van Amburgh, PharmD, CDE Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs; Associate Clinical Professor, School of Pharmacy, Northeastern University; Director, Clinical Pharmacy Team Director, Residency Program, Harbor Health Services, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts Uremic pruritus, or more aptly called "chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus" (CKD-aP), is chronic itching that occurs in patients with advanced or end-stage renal disease. [1] It is known to affect about 20%-50% of patients with renal failure and often causes long-term pain and suffering. [2] Several theories exist regarding the etiology of CKD-aP, including systemic inflammation, elevated levels of histamine, overactivation of mu-opioid receptors, and possibly increased levels of C-reac...

For a study, researchers sought to determine the demographic, lifestyle, and serologic risk factors for isolated rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-associated bronchiectasis (RA-BR) that was not caused by interstitial lung disease (ILD). They conducted a case-control study with RA patients from the Mass General Brigham Biobank. To identify RA-BR cases and controls with RA and RA-related lung illness, they analyzed the records of all patients with RA who met the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology criteria with computed tomography (CT) chest imaging. The CT chest imaging conducted closest to enrolment for each patient was independently examined by two radiologists for the existence of RA-related lung disorders. Clinical and radiologic evidence of RA-BR was present in all cases, with no interstitial lung abnormalities on imaging. The controls had RA but no bronchiectasis or ILD. Using multivariable logistic regression, they investigated the r...

Legionella pneumonia is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia that causes various clinical symptoms and is often difficult to diagnose. For the diagnosis, it is important to inquire about the patient's history of exposure to sewage or soil, although there are rare cases of Legionella pneumonia with no history of exposure. In this study, we present a case of Legionella pneumonia in a 72-year-old man with no history of wastewater exposure from public baths or other sources. The patient presented to our emergency department with fever, chills, and shivering. The antigen test of the urine for Legionella was negative, and chest radiography showed patchy infiltrates in the right lower lung field that was suspicious for pneumonia. The patient was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone (2 g/day) for right-sided pneumonia and was intubated on day 1 due to poor oxygenation and a tendency towards exacerbation to acute res...

Perspectives Mark E. Bubak, M.D. For students with allergies and asthma, back to school means more than getting their backpacks filled with paper, pencils, and any needed odds and ends. Keeping your child safe and healthy involves creating a proactive plan to be implemented both at home and at school. Allergy doctors refer to these plans as "control programs" because the goal is prevention and control. Food allergies can cause anaphylaxis, the total body allergic reaction with shortness of breath, hives, low blood pressure, vomiting, diarrhea, and potentially death. Avoidance is the treatment. If an accident happens and the student starts to react, it is imperative that epinephrine is given and the student is taken to the emergency room for ongoing care. A local, itchy reaction can occur if the allergic student touches the food and the more serious reaction, anaphylaxis can occur if the food is eaten. Children diagnosed as asth...

Gout is a common type of inflammatory arthritis that affects approximately 41 million adults worldwide. It is marked by high levels of uric acid in the blood (known as hyperuricemia), which form monosodium urate (MSU) crystals in the blood. Elevated levels of MSU crystals lead to an accumulation in the joints — most notably the big toe — intermittent gout flares, and symptoms like joint pain, swelling or tophi, heat, and redness. Hyperuricemia is also a risk factor for the development of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and kidney disease. Though there isn't a cure for gout, the appropriate combination of medical and dietary interventions can help manage symptoms, reduce the frequency of gout flares, and initiate remission. Some dietary supplements, such as probiotics, are proposed to improve gout symptoms by reducing the amount of uric acid found in the blood and, by extension, reducing gout flares and the risk of other chronic diseases. Probiotics are living mic...

Is a deep, chesty cough keeping your little one up all night? Your child may have bronchitis. Also called a chest cold, acute bronchitis is an illness where the large airways to the lungs known as bronchi swell and then make excess mucus. The cough comes on suddenly and generally goes away within 3 weeks with no specific treatment necessary, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The American Lung Association (ALA) says acute bronchitis is generally caused by a viral infection. This is known as viral bronchitis. But it can also be caused by bacteria in the bronchi, which is known as bacterial bronchitis. Chronic bronchitis is another possibility, though 2020 research suggests chronic cough is rare in children. It produces similar symptoms, but they may last much longer, usually beyond 4 weeks . Here's more about what symptoms your child may experience with bronchitis, how this condition is diagnosed, and what antibiotic and over-the-counter (OTC) optio...