Rob Volansky

Physician empathy has long been recommended — but not required — in the doctor-patient relationship.However, for a growing number of rheumatology researchers and providers, a healthy dose of empathy has become not just an essential aspect of one’s bedside manner, but also key to improving outcomes like pain and fatigue, and maximizing the impact of pharmacotherapeutic and

When researchers at ACR Convergence 2024 presented positive data from the RESET RA study regarding vagus nerve stimulation in rheumatoid arthritis, it represented the latest milestone on a long and unpredictable journey for the treatment. It’s a journey that, according to those researchers and other experts, will likely end in FDA approval for RA, possibly as early as this year.

Although artificial intelligence presents “exciting opportunities,” its use in patient care “must be regulated” to address biases in decision making, said newly appointed American College of Rheumatology President Carol Langford, MD, MHS. “The interpretation of AI-provided data needs to be made in the context of each patient’s history, clinical presentation,

Uptake of belimumab continues to outpace the use of anifrolumab among clinicians managing patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to a survey conducted by Spherix Global Insights. A top-line data point from the survey suggests that, among patients with SLE currently treated with biologics by the 100 rheumatologist respondents, 62% were receiving belimumab (Benlysta, GlaxoSmithKline)

The field of rheumatology has “left behind” patients with lupus from Africa — and across the global African diaspora — at nearly all academic and clinical levels, from research to diagnosis to treatment, according to researchers. In a review article recently published in Frontiers in Genetics, Ashira D. Blazer, MD, MSCI, assistant professor of medicine in the division of

Clinical trial results in Sjögren’s disease over the last decade have volleyed between encouraging successes and deflating failures, but with several new drugs advancing through the pipeline, hopes are high yet again. “Patients understandably seek an improvement in their current universal Sjögren’s symptoms, including their dryness of the eyes and mouth,” David

WASHINGTON — Delaying methotrexate initiation for 1 month after pneumococcal vaccination improves humoral response in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to data presented at ACR Convergence 2024. “As you know, vaccination against pneumococcus is recommended in patients with RA being treated with methotrexate,” Jacques Morel, MD, of the University Hospital of

WASHINGTON — Severe acute COVID-19 infection, as well as glucocorticoid and rituximab use, increase the risk for long COVID in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases, according to data presented at ACR Convergence 2024. “We know from the work of several people from the height of the pandemic that autoimmune rheumatic disease patients were at higher risk of severe outcomes from

WASHINGTON — Preexisting autoimmune diseases do not increase mortality risk in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors for cancer, according to data presented at ACR Convergence 2024. “The objective of this study was to assess mortality risk in a national cohort of patients with preexisting autoimmune diseases being treated with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy,”

WASHINGTON — A 15 mg/kg dose of the neonatal fragment crystallizable receptor blocker nipocalimab outperformed placebo in improving Sjögren’s disease activity at 24 weeks, according to data presented at ACR Convergence 2024.“Currently there are no immunomodulatory therapies that target the systemic manifestations of the disease that are approved for Sjögren’s,”