Arthritis care & research
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Arthritis care & research · Dec 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialSerum cotinine as a biomarker of tobacco exposure and the association with treatment response in early rheumatoid arthritis.
Cigarette smoking has emerged as a risk factor for the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recent studies have suggested that cigarette smoking may lead to lower treatment response rates with methotrexate (MTX) and some biologic agents in RA. Knowledge of whether tobacco exposure reduces treatment efficacy is important, since smoking could represent a modifiable factor in optimizing RA treatment. ⋯ Among patients enrolled in a large randomized controlled trial of early RA with poor prognostic factors, smoking status did not impact treatment responses for those receiving early combination or initial MTX with step-up therapy at 24 weeks if the disease was still active.
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Arthritis care & research · Dec 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyPharmacist-initiated intervention trial in osteoarthritis: a multidisciplinary intervention for knee osteoarthritis.
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a commonly undiagnosed condition and care is often not provided. Pharmacists are uniquely placed for launching a multidisciplinary intervention for knee OA. ⋯ Pharmacists can launch a multidisciplinary intervention to identify knee OA cases, improve the utilization of treatments, and improve function, pain, and quality of life.