Newsroom Hospital for Special Surgery

Nearly 90 Percent of PsA Patients Who Use Complementary Medicines Report Benefits

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 17:23:00 -0500

Rheumatology Network reports on the findings of an HSS study led by Sergio Schwartzman, MD, rheumatologist at HSS, and presented at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting, which found more than half of patients in a psoriatic arthritis (PsA) cohort reported the use of complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) in a 12-month period.

Rheumatology Network spoke to Dr. Schwartzman about the findings, who explained, “CAM use is common in the general population but has never been completely evaluated in a cohort of patients with validated CASPAR criteria.” After comparing medication use among those who used CAM and those who didn’t, the researchers found that CAM users were less likely to use biologics and targeted synthetics, however the finding was not statistically significant. Overall, nearly 90 percent of patients using these modalities reported CAM was somewhat helpful.

Dr. Schwartzman concluded, “I wouldn’t support CAM to the exclusion of traditional therapies; however, while CAM for the most part has not been studied prospectively in RCTs, that doesn’t necessarily mean that these modalities are not effective.”

Read the article at Rheumatologynetwork.com.

Can Diet Help in Psoriasis?

Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:00:00 -0400

MedPage Today featured HSS rheumatologist Sergio Schwartzman, MD, in an article about his study recently published in JAMA Dermatology on dietary recommendations for adults with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

Dr. Schwartzman explained that "people with psoriatic disease tend to be overweight and to have metabolic syndrome, a complex disorder that also includes hypertension, diabetes, and premature arteriosclerosis. A major recommendation is that in patients who are overweight and have metabolic syndrome, a strategy should be implemented that utilizes a hypocaloric diet to achieve weight reduction and ideal body weight."

Additionally, Dr. Schwartzman said dietary interventions "should be used not instead of, but in conjunction with, standard medical treatment for psoriatic disease."

Read the full article at medpagetoday.com.

Inflammatory Eye Disease: Complex, Scary

Thu, 10 May 2018 07:00:00 -0400

MedPage Today featured HSS rheumatologist Sergio Schwartzman, MD, who addressed strategies for recognizing and managing inflammatory eye conditions at the 2018 California Rheumatology Alliance meeting.

According to Dr. Schwartzman, scleritis has a more gradual onset and is associated with severe, boring pain that often radiates to the forehead.

For orbital inflammatory disease, Dr. Schwartzman pointed out that evaluation and management are complicated by the multiple orbital sites that can be involved or affected by the disease process.

"The current trend in orthoinflammatory disease is to use rituximab as the first biologic agent," he said.

Read the full article at medpagetoday.com

RA Patients Pose Perioperative Challenges

Mon, 07 May 2018 07:00:00 -0400

HSS rheumatologist Sergio Schwartzman, MD, addressed how patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pose unique surgical risks that require postoperative monitoring at the 2018 California Rheumatology Alliance meeting, MedPage Today reported.

"It's always been a challenge to us to know how to manage these patients who have unique needs and unique risks. Some of that is referable to the medications used to treat them," said Dr. Schwartzman.

"The challenge of the medication assessment is to achieve a balance among competing objectives: maintaining disease control, optimizing wound healing, and minimizing perioperative morbidity, especially infections," he added.

According to the article, recent guidelines suggested that patients should restart biologics at the onset of wound healing after surgery.

Read the full article at medpagetoday.com