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Cognition is a problem for 50% of patients in study, while 29% were malnourished by Patricia Inácio, PhD | March 5, 2024  Cognitive difficulties affected half of all scleroderma patients in a recent study in Italy, while malnutrition was found in more than one quarter.
While no correlation was seen between cognitive impairment and malnutrition in the 100 patients involved, the presence of these complications associated with greater functional disability and a poorer quality of life. Identifying them early is “pivotal to better address the chronic needs of patients affected by this disease,” researchers wrote in the study, “Role of cognitive impairment and malnutrition as determinants of quality of life in patients with systemic sclerosis,” published in the Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders. The condition is associated with inflammation, end-organ involvement by Patricia Inácio, PhD | February 27, 2024  Muscle disease is common in people with scleroderma and is associated with inflammation and specific end-organ involvement, according to an Australian study.
The findings underscore the “clinical, functional, and prognostic importance of simple biomarkers ” for identifying SSc-related muscle disease, the study’s researchers wrote in “Proximal weakness and creatine kinase elevation in systemic sclerosis: clinical correlates, prognosis and functional implications,” which was published in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. Scleroderma, also called systemic sclerosis (SSc), is a chronic disease that features excessive scarring of the skin and other organs due to abnormal immune responses against the body’s own tissues. Muscle disease, or myopathy, can be common in SSc and develop due to the indirect effects of the disease, such as malnutrition. A previous study using MRI scans showed muscle involvement was found in up to 40% of asymptomatic SSc patients. A lack of consensus remains about what SSc-myopathy is and of biomarkers for muscle disease in SSc, leading researchers to assess whether two routine clinical biomarkers of muscle disease — elevated blood levels of creatine kinase (CK) and proximal muscle weakness (PW) — could help identify those at risk for more severe outcomes. The scientists analyzed data from patients enrolled in the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study between 2007 and 2023 who had at least one assessment of PW and CK levels during follow-up. Oral therapy shown to safely improve lung function in Phase 2 trial by Andrea Lobo, PhD | February 20, 2024  Certa Therapeutics’ FT011, an investigational oral therapy for systemic sclerosis (SSc), has been granted fast track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
It comes following Phase 2 clinical trial data that showed that FT011 was safe and well tolerated, and led to clinically meaningful improvements in lung function for some participants. The therapy also helped to ease physical disability for more than half of the patients in the small study. The FDA fast track designation, which provides incentives such as more frequent meetings with the regulatory agency and potential eligibility for priority review and accelerated approval, is meant to speed the development of treatments for serious or life-threatening conditions. “We are thrilled to have received fast track designation which supports further acceleration of the FT011 clinical development program,” Darren Kelly, PhD, Certa’s founder and CEO, said in a company press release. Kelly added that the designation “also provides validation of FT011’s potential to offer patients with scleroderma the first anti-fibrotic and disease modifying treatment of this type.” In my debut column, I share the hurdles I face in my life as a warrior by Sherlene Perkins | February 19, 2024  Yes, I’m a warrior. I was classified as one long before my scleroderma diagnosis since I’m an African American woman and single mom of two adult children. God has been preparing me to be a great warrior since birth.
Learning that I had scleroderma was a relief. The symptoms started July 2019 after six months of excruciating pain and an inability to use my hands. Amid the diagnosis and symptoms, I found solace in thinking sardonically, “OK. Now what?” The shock was that the doctors told me there is no cure. They prescribed prednisone to help with inflammation and methotrexate to suppress my immune system. Disbelief about my bad luck filled me. Now what? 775 participants from SPIN were asked to complete UCLA Loneliness Scale-6by Steve Bryson, PhD | February 13, 2024  More conversations, either one on one or in groups via telephone or virtually, along with in-person household activities and conversations, were significantly associated with less loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic among people with systemic sclerosis (SSc), a study indicates.
Conversations and activities at the beginning of the pandemic didn’t predict loneliness over the following two years, however. The findings suggest “sustained levels of interactions over time were potentially more useful than levels of interactions when the pandemic began,” the researchers wrote in “Moderators of Loneliness Trajectories in People with Systemic Sclerosis During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A SPIN COVID-19 Cohort Longitudinal Study,” which was published in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. SSc, or scleroderma, is an autoimmune disorder that affects connective tissue, damaging the skin and possibly the internal organs, including the heart and blood vessels, lungs, stomach, and kidneys. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people with SSc had a higher risk of disease and death due to compromised lung function, overall poor health, and the use of immunosuppressant medications. As a result, many faced long periods of isolation, which may have been worsened by physical limitations, such as fatigue and chronic pain. Such isolation may have induced feelings of loneliness, an unpleasant emotional response often associated with a perceived lack of social relationships that fails to fulfill social needs. |
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