The Medical journal of Australia
-
There are now eight approved biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs), two biosimilars and one targeted synthetic DMARD in Australia with a number of new products and biosimilars in the pipeline. bDMARDs have excellent efficacy, especially when combined with traditional DMARDs, and a well characterised but manageable safety profile. These expanded therapeutic options have revolutionised patient care and made remission (including drug free remission) a realistic goal. Evidence of a "window of opportunity" that changes the long term phenotype of the disease has been well established, so therapy should be commenced as early as possible in the disease process and a shared care model between general practitioner and rheumatologist provides the best outcomes. While there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, treatment has improved to the point where many patients can achieve a normal quality of life.
-
Rheumatic diseases are frequently complicated by extra-articular manifestations, often affecting the eye. Most of these ocular symptoms are benign and develop over long periods of time. ⋯ It is vital that sight-threatening complications are recognised quickly, so that appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, such as slit lamp examination and the initiation of immunosuppressive treatments, can occur in a timely fashion. Insight into the epidemiology, clinical presentation, common complications and treatment regimens of these ocular manifestations enables early detection and may prevent permanent loss of vision.
-
To examine the impact of the national human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program (available to girls and women [12-26 years] since 2007 and to boys [12-15 years] since 2013) on the number of diagnoses of genital warts in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) people. ⋯ There were marked declines in the proportions of diagnoses of genital warts in young Indigenous women and men attending SHCs after the introduction of the HPV vaccination program. If high levels of HPV vaccine coverage are sustained, HPV-related cancer rates should also decline.
-
Letter Case Reports
The dangers of non-medical laser therapy for pigmented lesions.