Robot Arthur in UK-first for hand arthritis scans

From bbc.co.uk/news

A robot is being used for the first time in the UK to scan patients' hands and wrists to speed up rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis.

Arthur, at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading scans while AI program Diana interprets the images and sends the results to clinicians so patients get a treatment plan the same day.

Professor Antoni Chan, consultant rheumatologist and physician said: "We are delighted to be the first site in the UK to use Arthur. Earlier diagnosis is very important as joint damage can occur if treatment is delayed."

By using the robot, the hospital hopes to increase patients and offer those with rheumatoid arthritis more frequent scans so their treatment can be monitored.

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

James Blythe, chief executive officer at the trust said: "There are seven countries around the world that use this technology and we are the first place in the UK to bring it on stream.

"This investment is about using technology to deliver real improvements for our patients and colleagues.

"It means we can get to patients earlier and make interventions that add years to life and life to years."

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (RBFT) said its rheumatology department in Reading currently carries out 200 hand MRIs a year with demand for their services rising every year.

Prof Chan said: "We can see patients on the day of the clinic they can have the scans and then we can make a decision - this does not replace clinician this helps the decision making and then we can proceed with treatment.

"It really improves the time to diagnose so we don't delay treatment."

The trust said the robot forms part of the wider work taking place across RBFT to invest in technology.

It said other examples included recent investment in new pharmacy dispensing robots, and our work with AI in the to speed up the diagnosis of patients who have had a stroke.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx98z65zj775o 

Painful Victorian condition 'on the rise among young people' as cases surge in UK

From mirror.co.uk

Gout is a painful condition that is often associated with Victorian Britain, but it continues to be a problem today - and health experts are warning that it is on the rise 

A painful health condition more common in Victorian times is making an unexpected comeback among the younger generation, according to statistics.

A notable spike in gout cases is alarming health experts with the ailment, once rampant in the era of Charles Dickens, seeing a 30 per cent rise in diagnoses among those in their 20s and 30s.

Gout, characterised by severe pain and known as the most common type of inflammatory arthritis in the UK, affects roughly one in 40 people across the nation. It typically manifests as a sudden and intense pain in the big toe, accompanied by swelling and redness, and can eventually spread to other joints, potentially leading to disability.

                                                              Gout causes severe pain(Image: Getty Images)

Medical professionals are now calling for increased vigilance and quicker intervention to manage this condition, as reported by Birmingham Live. Dr Avinash Hari Narayanan (MBChB), clinical lead at London Medical Laboratory, highlighted the importance of early detection, saying: "Unfortunately, gout is a condition that is very much still with us, despite the fact that simple blood tests can help identify people likely to suffer a flare before it ever happens. The charity Arthritis Action says one in 40 Brits now have the condition and it can lead to debilitating pain, even for younger people.

"A study published in the journal BMC Primary Care last November found gout is the most common inflammatory arthritis yet, frequently, it is not managed well enough or taken seriously. The last major UK study into the condition was held as long ago as 2012.

"At that time, a report in the British Medical Journal's (BMJ) Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases revealed cases were significantly higher in 2012 than in 1997, the date of the preceding major study, with a 63.9% increase in prevalence and 29.6% increase in incidence over this period. Concerningly, although most gout patients were still 60 or older, the number of patients aged between 20 and 30 had increased by 30%.

"In some ways, there has been little advance since 2012. NHS Digital statistics show that 234,000 people were admitted to hospital with gout in 2021-2022. The 2023 BMC Primary Care report examined 51,784 cases of people with the disease and found 35.9% suffered at least one more flare during the study period. It found cases of gout flares are more likely in people who are male, Black, have a higher BMI, suffer from heart failure, chronic kidney disease (CKD), cardiovascular disease (CVD) or who take diuretics."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/health/painful-victorian-condition-on-rise-32626380

Gout not just for Victorians: 1 in 40 Brits have this extremely painful disease

From news-medical.net

If you thought gout was an outdated condition affecting portly, red-faced Victorians, think again.1 in 40 Brits now have this extremely painful disease, making it the UK’s most common form of inflammatory arthritis. Cases among people in their 20s and 30s have increased by 30%, and faster monitoring and treatment is needed, says a leading expert.

Many of us have a mental image of gout sufferers as plump, elderly Victorian gents who drank too much port. Nothing could be further from the truth. The most recent figures reveal 1 in 40 Brits are now suffering from this extremely painful condition, making it the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, and cases have escalated by 30% among younger people in their 20s and 30s.

In more than half of all cases, gout classically manifests as a severely painful, red and hot joint in the big toe. It can then spread to the rest of our feet and hands and even become disabling. Gout is caused by the accumulation of uric acid in blood and tissues, which forms crystals. If these crystals get into a joint, they can trigger inflammation.

Gout flares, as they are called, can be agonising. Yet a leading health expert says it is the only form of arthritis that is entirely curable with treatment and cases can by eliminated by regular monitoring.

Dr Avinash Hari Narayanan (MBChB), Clinical Lead at London Medical Laboratory, says: ‘Unfortunately, gout is a condition that is very much still with us, despite the fact that simple blood tests can help identify people likely to suffer a flare before it ever happens.

‘The charity Arthritis Action says 1 in 40 Brits now have the condition and it can lead to debilitating pain, even for younger people.  A study published in the journal BMC Primary Care last November found gout is the most common inflammatory arthritis yet, frequently, it is not managed well enough or taken seriously.

‘The report found the medical management of gout is typically focused on the treatment of flares through lifestyle modification. Even though successful treatment using urate (uric acid) lowering therapies (ULT) has seen consistent results over 20 years, in the UK only around a third of people with gout are treated with ULT and the report found adherence to treatment is poor.

‘This finding was echoed by another report released last year in The Lancet Rheumatology. It found that “inconsistent recommendations about when to initiate urate-lowering therapy are likely to increase uncertainty around disease management.” Crucially, this paper agreed that: “Poor adherence to therapy is also a concern, particularly in dormant periods between flares.” Again, regular monitoring using simple finger-prick blood tests can help people stick to their target levels.

‘The last major UK study into the condition was held as long ago as 2012. At that time, a report in the British Medical Journal’s (BMJ) Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases revealed cases were significantly higher in 2012 than in 1997, the date of the preceding major study, with a 63.9% increase in prevalence and 29.6% increase in incidence over this period. Concerningly, although most gout patients were still 60 or older, the number of patients aged between 20 and 30 had increased by 30%.

‘In some ways, there has been little advance since 2012. NHS Digital statistics show that 234,000 people were admitted to hospital with gout in 2021-2022. The 2023 BMC Primary Care report examined 51,784 cases of people with the disease and found 35.9% suffered at least one more flare during the study period.  It found cases of gout flares are more likely in people who are male, Black, have a higher BMI, suffer from heart failure, chronic kidney disease (CKD), cardiovascular disease (CVD) or who take diuretics.

‘Urate lowering therapies were used in just 27.7% of cases within 12 months of diagnosis, despite the potentially debilitating impact of recurring flares. One of the chief problems the BMC report identified is that many patients give up their treatment, because achieving target urate levels can be challenging.

‘Yet simple blood tests, such as London Medical Laboratory’s General Health Profile finger-prick test, can quickly and accurately measure urate levels in the blood to help people meet their targets and avoid subsequent flares. Knowing uric acid levels can also better inform medical professionals when ULT treatment might be necessary alongside other treatments, such as dietary restrictions.

‘Crucially, by taking a General Health Profile blood test, people can identify if they have high urate levels and are at risk of suffering a very painful gout flare before it happens.

‘Not only does the test identify high levels of uric acid, but also muscle and bone profile, liver and kidney function, risk of diabetes (by checking levels of HbA1c), cholesterol levels and iron levels. London Medical Laboratory’s General Health Profile blood test can be taken at home through the post, or at one of the many drop-in clinics that offer these tests across London and nationwide in over 120 selected pharmacies and health stores.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240318/Gout-not-just-for-Victorians-1-in-40-Brits-have-this-extremely-painful-disease.aspx?utm_source=news_medical_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=arthritis_newsletter_26_march_2024 

Scientists recruit 2,000 Britons to find a link between psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis in later life

From dailymail.co.uk

• More than 150,000 Britons suffer with psoriatic arthritis according to research 
• Researchers want to discover the link between the skin condition and arthritis 

The link between the skin disease psoriasis and developing arthritis later in life will be explored in a first-of-its-kind study.

Psoriasis causes red, flaky and itchy patches of skin all over the body, and studies show that around a third of sufferers will also eventually be diagnosed with the painful joint condition.

While more than 150,000 people in the UK have these two conditions – known as psoriatic arthritis – scientists do not know what triggers it.

Experts say this study of 2,000 Britons could help scientists uncover crucial risk factors and develop treatments that prevent this illness.

The participants, who will have been diagnosed with psoriasis but not have arthritis symptoms, will be tracked over a number of years to see if they develop psoriatic arthritis.

They will have regular blood tests and take a genetic examination to identify any tell-tale patterns in their DNA.

                                 Some 150,000 Britons suffer from psoriatic arthritis and the new research will try and find a link 

                                                                                   between the two painful conditions

Scientists from the medical research group Hippocrates will be looking for common factors between patients who develop psoriatic arthritis. It is thought that specific inherited genes play a role as the condition often runs in families. Smoking and obesity have also been linked.

But Professor Laura Coates, a rheumatologist at the University of Oxford and one of the researchers, says there are other factors to consider: ‘We want to see whether you’re more likely to get arthritis if your psoriasis is very severe, compared with those who have mild symptoms. We also will explore whether medication patients take to treat psoriasis has any impact, as well as underlying health conditions like heart disease and depression.’

She hopes that the results of the study will help doctors better manage psoriatic arthritis, saying: ‘If the key indicators are weight and diet, for example, we might suggest people with psoriasis follow a certain diet.

‘It’s possible that this data will eventually lead to us discovering a treatment to stop psoriatic arthritis before it can begin to take hold.’

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12054565/Scientists-recruit-2-000-Britons-link-psoriasis-arthritis.html

Coronavirus: New app developed to help young arthritis sufferers through pandemic

From thecourier.co.uk

A Dundee University student is among those being helped by a new mobile app aimed at helping teenagers and young adults with arthritis through Covid-19 self-isolation.

Melissa Tavendale said she had already felt the benefit of the Arthritis Tracker which provides round-the-clock access to information and advice, helping those affected to rate and record symptoms in seconds and track their pain, medication side effects, fatigue, physical activity, sleep and emotional well-being.

An estimated 2.98 million people under the age of 35 in the UK are living with a musculoskeletal (MSK) condition and the charity Versus Arthritis has launched the app.

Versus Arthritis digital engagement officer, Sophie Mullen said; “Arthritis is too often dismissed as an old person’s disease, but it doesn’t discriminate by age – two thirds of people with arthritis are under 65.

“Technology is helping us bridge the gap to those who were already isolated, and who face more restrictions to their life because of Covid-19.
“Most will never have met other young people their age with the condition, who understand what they’re going through. This app will help us change that.”

Melissa, 19, was recently diagnosed with Seronegative inflammatory arthritis after experiencing painful joints and stiffness for more than a year.

Now living with her parents in the north east during lockdown, she has already had one medical appointment cancelled during the pandemic.
“The app is very easy to use and seems to be working very well. I like the extra info with tips and advice about managing my condition,” she said

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/1311940/coronavirus-new-app-developed-to-help-young-arthritis-sufferers-through-pandemic/