Author Interviews, BMJ, Karolinski Institute, Rheumatology / 06.06.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Karen Hambardzumyan Research Assistant Karolinska Institute Department of Medicine, (ClinTRID) D1:00, Karolinska University Hospital Solna Stockholm MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: One of the difficulties with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment is unpredictable treatment outcome at the individual patient level. The course might be mild or severe independently of the therapy. To identify subgroups of patients who will benefit from specific therapy strategies is one of the goals for today’s rheumatologists. We have investigated a Multi-Biomarker Disease Activity (MBDA) score in patients from the Swedish Farmacotherapy (SWEFOT) clinical trial, where early rheumatoid arthritis patients were included/studied. The main finding was the usefulness of the MBDA score for prediction of those patients who will not get joint damage detected by X-rays (radiographic progression) during one year follow-up. This MBDA score, developed by Crescendo Bioscience (South San-Francisco, CA, USA) is based on serum levels of 12 different protein biomarkers and can categorize patients into 3 groups: patients with low, moderate and high disease activity. Ninety-seven percent of patients who had low or moderate MBDA score before treatment onset, did not experience radiographic progression during one year follow-up. This finding could contribute to a personalised approach to the RA patients for the optimal therapy choice.
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, General Medicine, JAMA, Rheumatology / 21.05.2014

Professor Kim Bennell ARC Future Fellow Department of Physiotherapy University of Melbourne Parkville, Vic 3010 AustraliaMedicalResearch.com Interview Professor Kim Bennell ARC Future Fellow Department of Physiotherapy University of Melbourne Parkville, Vic 3010 Australia MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Professor Bennell: In 102 people with painful hip osteoarthritis, we compared a 'real' physical therapy program involving exercise, manual therapy techniques,education and provision of a cane if appropriate to a sham physical therapy treatment that was made to look as though it was real but instead involved turned off ultrasound and gentle application of a hand crème to the hip region. Participants in both groups went to see a physical therapist on 10 occasions over 12 weeks and performed home exercises if in the 'real' physical therapy group or lightly applied the cream at home if in the sham group. Participants were followed for 9 months in total. We found that while both groups showed improvements in pain and physical function, the improvements were similar between the two groups. That is, the real physical therapy program did not show greater benefits over a sham treatment. 
Author Interviews, Rheumatology / 02.11.2013

Dr. Laura Coates Division of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Disease Chapel Allerton Hospital Chapeltown Road Leeds NIHR Clinical Lecturer at the University of LeedsMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Laura Coates Division of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Disease Chapel Allerton Hospital Chapeltown Road Leeds NIHR Clinical Lecturer at the University of Leeds
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The TICOPA study showed that treating patients with early psoriatic arthritis to an objective target with regular review improved patient's clinical outcome both in terms of arthritis and skin psoriasis.  There was an increase in adverse events in the tight control arm but only 4 serious infections seen in the tight control arm that were thought to be related to treatment (2 cases of cellulitis, 2 cases of chest infection).
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics, Rheumatology, Vaccine Studies / 19.06.2013

Marloes Heijstek MD University Medical Center, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital Department of Pediatric Immunology and Rheumatology Room number KC 03.063.0 P.O. Box 85090 Lundlaan 6 3508 AB UtrechtMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marloes Heijstek MD University Medical Center, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital Department of Pediatric Immunology and Rheumatology Room number KC 03.063.0 P.O. Box 85090 Lundlaan 6 3508 AB Utrecht MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Heijstek: The main findings of our study are that MMR booster vaccination does not affect JIA disease, does not cause flares of arthritis and induces high rates of protective immunity.