Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Oct. 28, 2013 -- A new blood test may predict fibromyalgia, a condition that can be hard to diagnose.
Research about the new test was presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in San Diego.
EpicGenetics of Santa Monica, Calif., developed the test, called the FM/a test, says Bruce Gillis, MD, MPH. Gillis is the company’s CEO and an assistant professor of medicine and emergency medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
"It is objective, very accurate, and definitive," he says.
But the test’s high price tag -- $744 -- may keep its use limited for now, one expert says.
"Due to the cost and my lack of experience with this new test, I would initially use it in patients in whom I suspect as having fibromyalgia but lack some of the classic features, making the diagnosis more difficult," says Scott Zashin. Zashin is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas.
Fibromyalgia causes widespread pain, tenderness, and stiffness in the muscles and connective tissues. The cause is not known. Six million people or more in the U.S. may have it, Gillis says. Usually doctors take a medical history and note symptoms. Often, it is a diagnosis made after excluding other diseases.
"The biggest problem is the skepticism that physicians have that don't believe that fibromyalgia is a real medical ailment," Gillis says. Often, he says, they label the patient as being depressed or being a hypochondriac.
"What our test does more than anything else is legitimize the diagnosis," Gillis says.
The test measures proteins in the body that lessen pain. "In patients with fibromyalgia, they cannot produce normal quantities of these proteins," Gillis says.
The test developers compared the blood test results in:
Ninety-three percent of the people who had fibromyalgia were identified correctly with the test, Gillis says, and 89% of those who did not were correctly identified.
Zashin, who is not involved with the company, says additional studies will be helpful. "If results could be verified, I would discuss the test with patients in whom the diagnosis of fibromyalgia is being considered to determine if they wanted to obtain the information provided by the testing,'' he says.
These findings were presented at a medical conference. They should be considered preliminary, as they have not yet undergone the "peer review" process, in which outside experts scrutinize the data prior to publication in a medical journal.
Monday, 4 November 2013
Nov. 4, 2013 (San Diego) -- High blood pressure and steroid medication may worsen lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect the joints, skin, kidneys, lungs, nervous system, and other organs.
The good news is that patients might be able to change both risk factors, says Ian Bruce, MD. He is a professor of rheumatology at the University of Manchester.Bruce presented his research at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.
Lupus affects an estimated 160,000 or more U.S. adults. Many more women than men are affected.
Symptoms include skin rashes, arthritis, fatigue, and fever. The cause is not known but is believed to be tied to genetic and environmental factors.
Bruce followed about 1,500 patients with lupus, mostly women, between 2000 and 2011. He tracked them to see if damage from the disease had gotten worse. More than half of patients reported some kind of damage.
Besides high blood pressure and steroid use, he found other risk factors in patients whose disease got worse. They include:
Older ageBeing of African descent within the U.S.Having higher lupus damage at the beginning of the studyBruce found taking anti-malarial drugs protected lupus patients from worsening damage.
As a next step, he says, studies are needed to test whether controlling blood pressure and reducing steroid use will help lupus patients.
Bruce reports receiving research grants from GlaxoSmithKline and Roche Pharmaceuticals and consulting fees from UCB and BMS.
These findings were presented at a medical conference. They should be considered preliminary, as they have not yet undergone the "peer review" process, in which outside experts scrutinize the data prior to publication in a medical journal.
