(Press-News.org) Arani Vivekanantham and colleagues investigated the association between RA and the risk of COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalization with COVID-19,and COVID-19-related death. This population-based cohort study including all individuals registered in the Information System for Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP)- which covers over80% of the population of Catalonia, Spain. This information was linked to region-wide SARS-CoV-2 testing, hospital and mortality records. Outpatient diagnoses of COVID-19, hospitalizations and deaths with COVID-19 were identified between 1st March and 6th May 2020.
A total of 5,586,565 people were identified, of which 16,344 had RA. Having RA was positively associated with being diagnosed with COVID-19, and being hospitalized with COVID-19. However, the authors did not find an association between RA and the risk of worsening from outpatient diagnosis to hospitalization or death, or from hospitalization to death.
The authors believe this is the largest study performed to date looking at COVID-19 outcomes in people with RA. Further research is needed to address factors linking RA and COVID-19 outcomes, including the presence of other comorbidities, underlying RA disease activity, and the use of immunosuppressive medications.
A second poster from Bower and colleagues looked at all-cause mortality, absolute and relative risks for severe COVID-19 in people with chronic inflammatory joint diseases, compared both over time and to the general population. Using data from ARTIS - a Swedish national database -data on hospitalizations, admission to intensive care, and deaths due to COVID-19 were analysed in 110,567 people with inflammatory joint disease, including RA, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, spondyloarthritis, or juvenile idiopathic arthritis. These were compared to outcomes for 484,277 people in the general population.
In all groups, the absolute risk of death from any cause in 2020 was higher than 2015-2019, with a peak in mid-April, but the relative risks of death versus the general population remained similar.
Among people with inflammatory joint disease in 2020, the risk of hospitalization, admission to intensive care, and death due to COVID-19 was 0.5%, 0.04% and 0.1%, respectively.
Following the original abstract submission, Dr. Bower adds an update that among people with inflammatory joint disease in 2020, the risk of hospitalization, admission to intensive care, and death due to COVID-19 was 0.3%, 0.03% and 0.07%, respectively.
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MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (06/18/2021) -- Two recent studies led by researchers from the University of Minnesota Medical School add new evidence to the impact of how drug price increases affect U.S. patients and the overall cost of health care.
The first study, published today in the JAMA Network Open, provides new data on how dramatic increases in anti-infective drug prices altered the overall cost of outpatient health care and decreased patient access to appropriate drug treatment. The study protocol was reviewed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and scanned ...
As part of the MAINSTREAM project, Favalli and colleagues conducted a seroprevalence cross-sectional study between 4th May and 16th June 2020toestimate the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a large cohort of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or spondyloarthritis (SpA) treated with biologic or targeted synthetic disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) in a COVID-19 high-endemic area (Lombardy, Italy). Over this time, 300 people were tested for IgG, IgM and IgA antibodies against three viral antigens-nucleoprotein, spike protein, and the receptor-binding domain. These data were compared with those observed in the healthy population in the same period and region. Everyone taking part also completed a questionnaire to collect information about symptoms consistent ...
A research group including Professor MATSUDA Tetsuya of Tamagawa University's Brain Science Institute (Machida City, Tokyo; Director: SAKAGAMI Masamichi) and Assistant Professor ISHIHARA Toru from Kobe University's Graduate School of Human Development and Environment has illuminated the changes in the brain's neural network and cortex structure that underlie the positive association between childhood exercise and the maintenance and promotion of cognitive function in later life.
These results were published in the academic journal NeuroImage on May 23, 2021.
Main Points
The researchers showed that people who are physically active during childhood (up to 12 years of age) have ...
That is the conclusion of new research published in the journal Geriatrics, which examined studies on several "telehealth" applications - smartphone apps used by patients and healthcare professionals to manage their condition.
Researchers found that smartphone apps and telehealth initiatives have the potential to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare systems and patients' quality of life in relation to pain management
The authors also emphasise that user involvement in development and construction of smartphone apps and telehealth initiatives is ...
Graphene consists of carbon atoms arranged in a chicken-wire like pattern. This one-atom-thick material is famous for its many extraordinary properties, such as extreme strength and remarkable capability to conduct electricity. Since its discovery, researchers have looked for ways to further tailor graphene through controlled manipulation of its atomic structure. However, until now, such modifications have been only confirmed locally, because of challenges in atomic-resolution imaging of large samples and analysis of large datasets.
Now a team around Jani Kotakoski at the University of ...
TheMUC5Bgene codes for mucin - a protein that is normally found in mucus secretions, and which is part of the body'snaturaldefence against infection. The promoter variantcalledrs35705950is a common variantin theMUC5Bgene, with anallele frequency of 0.1 in the Finnish population.Overexpression ofMUC5Bin lungs influences the development of pulmonary fibrosis.The promoter variant rs35705950 inMUC5Bis the strongest known genetic risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD). However, there are no large-scale data on the impact oftheMUC5Bpromoter varianton the long-term incidence of RA-ILD.
AnttiPalomäkiand colleagues usedFinnGen- a collection of epidemiological ...
New study by the ICTA-UAB shows that residents and visitors highlight the natural and biodiversity values of the Llobregat Delta, in Barcelona.
A new study undertaken by researchers at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) supports protestors' concerns about damage to the Llobregat Delta in airport expansion plans.
The research, carried out in 2019, found that the well-maintained and unique natural environment of the Llobregat Delta is important or very important to 100% residents and 98.8% of visitors who responded to the survey.
The recently published article in Environmental Science ...
Pioneering technology developed by UCL (University College London) and Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) researchers could transform the ability to accurately interpret HIV test results, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
Academics from the London Centre for Nanotechnology at UCL and AHRI used deep learning (artificial intelligence/AI) algorithms to improve health workers' ability to diagnose HIV using lateral flow tests in rural South Africa.
Their findings, published today in Nature Medicine, involve the first and largest study ...
Footprints from at least six different species of dinosaur - the very last dinosaurs to walk on UK soil 110 million years ago - have been found in Kent, a new report has announced.
The discovery of dinosaur footprints by a curator from Hastings Museum and Art Gallery and a scientist from the University of Portsmouth is the last record of dinosaurs in Britain.
The footprints were discovered in the cliffs and on the foreshore in Folkestone, Kent, where stormy conditions affect the cliff and coastal waters, and are constantly revealing new fossils.
Professor of Palaeobiology, David Martill, said: "This is ...
Biologists have identified a family of algae as a living missing link in the microscopic domain.
Over the course of evolutionary time, marine microorganisms have undergone an immense range of diversification. This applies in particular to the group known as dinophytes. Also known as dinoflagellates, these unicellular algae can account for a significant fraction of the phytoplankton in the oceans, and their ecological and economic significance is correspondingly high. A team of researchers led by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich biologist Professor Marc Gottschling now reports the identification of a missing link between the two major phylogenetic groups of dinophytes, ...
