Almost 3,500 people in 16 cities across Canada participated in the first national Walk to Fight Arthritis this week and raised $900,000 to help find a cure for one of the leading causes of disability among Canadians. “By all accounts, this was an incredible event and we couldn’t have done it without the dedication and generosity of everyone involved including our major sponsor, the makers of TYLENOL®,” said Steven McNair, President and CEO, The Arthritis Society…

The shocking statistic is revealed in a wide ranging survey carried out by the UK charity Arthritis Care. It reveals that pain is having a devastating impact on the everyday lives of the 10 million people in the UK who have arthritis. The survey of over 2,000 people with arthritis shows that pain is frequently preventing people from carrying out typical daily activities, such as making a cup of tea, going to the shops or even hugging a loved one. It reveals that 63% of people with arthritis find it difficult to have sex when their pain is at its worst…

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) today announced their decision to discontinue the ocrelizumab clinical development programme in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Following a detailed analysis of the efficacy and safety results from the RA programme, the companies concluded that the overall benefit to risk profile of ocrelizumab was not favourable in RA taking into account the currently available treatment options. The ocrelizumab RA program included four Phase III studies (SCRIPT, FILM, FEATURE, and STAGE)…

An international team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute in California and the National Research Institute for Child Health and Development in Japan has discovered that a natural molecule in the body counters the progression of osteoarthritis. The findings could one day lead to new therapies for some common diseases of aging. The study was published in an advanced, online issue of the journal Genes & Development and will be featured as the cover story of the June 1 print edition of the journal…

Researchers from University of South Florida College of Medicine found a combination of antibiotics to be an effective treatment for Chlamydia-induced reactive arthritis, a major step forward in the management, and possibly cure, of this disease. Results of this study are published in the May issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology. Reactive arthritis (ReA), also known as Reiter’s syndrome, occurs in response to an infection…

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is a common but often unrecognized systemic disorder observed mainly in elderly people. All papers related to DISH demonstrate a consistent and marked increase of the disease with advancing age. Various local structural lesions such as oropharyngeal tumors, vascular pathologies, retropharyngeal abscesses, and anterior cervical osteophytes may lead to mechanical esophageal dysphagia. A research article published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this issue. A research team led by Dr…

Joan Broderick, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stony Brook University, has received a $606,000 grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This grant, supported by Federal Stimulus Funds, is a new addition to a clinical trial on Coping Skills Training for Arthritis. The study tests the effectiveness of providing follow-up support to patients for managing their pain by way of an automated system that patients use via their home telephone…

For patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis in remission, withdrawal of treatment with the drug methotrexate over 12 months vs. 6 months did not reduce the rate of relapse, according to a study in the April 7 issue of JAMA. New therapies have improved the remission rate in chronic inflammatory disorders such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA; persistent or recurring inflammation of the joints similar to rheumatoid arthritis but beginning at or before age 16). “â�¦ physicians have to balance the risk of doing too little (e.g…

BioTrends is pleased to announce the publication of a new syndicated report, LaunchTrends®: ACTEMRA. Actemra (tocilizumab), marketed by Roche-Genentech, is the first IL-6 receptor inhibitor agent approved for rheumatoid arthritis. This report is the first in a three wave series and is derived from on-line survey responses from 77 rheumatologists and qualitative interviews with 20 rheumatologists…

A new study found that fluoxetine (Prozac®) and citalopram (Celexa®) treatment significantly inhibited disease progression of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice. Research led by Sandra Sacre, Ph.D. from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) in the UK studied the anti-arthritic potential of these drugs, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), most commonly used to treat depression. Both SSRIs exhibited anti-inflammatory effects and may provide drug development opportunities for arthritic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA)…