Clinical Trends for April 2017

Ryan Syrek

Disclosures

April 28, 2017

Each week, we identify one top search term, speculate as to what caused its popularity, and provide an infographic on a related condition. If you have thoughts about what's trending and why, feel free to share them with us on Twitter or Facebook!

Clinical Trend of the Week (April 22-28): Rheumatoid Arthritis

News about risk and a key drug denial resulted in this week's top search term. A study in Annals of Rheumatic Disease investigated the role of diet in the risk for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study of over 76,000 women, more than 1000 of whom had confirmed RA, evaluated the role of "healthy eating patterns" before a diagnosis of RA. A food frequency questionnaire and multi-item semiquantitative instrument assessed whether dietary habits were healthy. The results showed that a healthier diet was associated with a significantly reduced risk for RA in women whose disease onset occurred at age 55 years or younger, particularly in women within that group who developed seropositive RA. Unsurprisingly, a lower alcohol intake and lower red meat intake were most associated with reduced risk. Meanwhile, baricitinib was rejected by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in RA. The agency said more information on safety and efficacy was needed before approval could be granted, which means a likely postponement until 2019 or later. As clinicians keep an eye on both of these developments, the term will stay a popular search.

For more information on RA, read here.

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