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Rheumatology

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) – look before you leap

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory rheumatological condition that causes a specific pattern of joint pain and morning... View Article

July 2023

Osteoarthritis: a focus on exercise

Three main aspects form the foundation of a management strategy for patients with osteoarthritis: education, exercise and weight... View Article

March 2023

Managing gout in primary care
Part 1 - Talking about gout: time for a re-think

Gout is a treatable form of arthritis that is associated with poor health and reduced life expectancy. Too often, gout management... View Article

July 2021

Managing gout in primary care
Part 2 -  Controlling gout with long-term urate-lowering treatment

Urate-lowering medicines should be considered and discussed with patients with gout from the first presentation. Doses of urate-lowering... View Article

July 2021

Biosimilars: the future of prescribing biological medicines

Biological medicines are an important advancement in the pharmaceutical treatment of patients with inflammatory and immunological... View Article

January 2020

Celecoxib: the “need to know” for safe prescribing

Celecoxib is a selective cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor that has been fully subsidised without restriction, since 1 June,... View Article

January 2018

Managing pain in osteoarthritis: focus on the person

The progression of osteoarthritis varies from person to person. Functional decline and worsening of symptoms is not inevitable,... View Article

January 2018

Diagnosis and management of axial spondyloarthritis in primary care

Ankylosing spondylitis is a relatively uncommon inflammatory cause of long-term back pain which can result in radiographic changes... View Article

August 2016

Biosimilars - what does a primary care clinician need to know?

”Biosimilars” is likely to become an increasingly familiar term for clinicians in New Zealand and worldwide. Medicines produced... View Article

October 2015

The New Zealand Laboratory Schedule and Test Guidelines: genetic tests

The New Zealand Laboratory Schedule provides clinicians with consistent guidance when considering requesting laboratory tests.... View Article

November 2014

Safer prescribing of high-risk medicines - Methotrexate: potentially fatal in overdose

Low-dose methotrexate is commonly used in the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatologic diseases,... View Article

October 2014

Investigating myalgia in patients taking statins

Muscle pain (myalgia) and weakness is experienced by up to 10% of patients taking statins. However, myalgia is commonly experienced... View Article

August 2014

Gout update: Febuxostat now subsidised on Special Authority

This article has been archived. If you would like access to the original article please contact: editor@bpac.org.nz View Article

July 2014

A conversation about gout…

In New Zealand, the majority of people with gout have higher than optimal serum urate levels. A primary reason for this is a lack... View Article

April 2014

Measuring serum urate levels

Gout is a common form of inflammatory arthritis that is caused by an inflammatory response to monosodium urate (MSU) crystals,... View Article

April 2014

Biologic medicines for the treatment of inflammatory conditions: What does primary care need to know?

Patients with severe immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease or psoriasis, often respond... View Article

December 2013

Calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease: The arthropathy formerly known as “Pseudogout”

A number of clinical syndromes are associated with the precipitation of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals in and around... View Article

October 2013

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): Making safer treatment choices

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are successfully used to treat a wide range of painful conditions. However, NSAIDs... View Article

October 2013

Polymyalgia rheumatica: Look before you leap

Polymyalgia rheumatica is an inflammatory condition that causes a particular pattern of joint pain and stiffness, most commonly... View Article

June 2013

Giant cell arteritis: Always keep it in your head

Giant cell arteritis, also referred to as temporal arteritis, is a form of vasculitis which predominantly affects older people.... View Article

June 2013

An update on the management of gout

This article has been archived. If you would like access to the original article please contact: editor@bpac.org.nz View Article

March 2013

Gout: an alarm bell for diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Counties Manukau DHB Māori Gout Action Group have identified five publicly held myths about gout and presented a plan with five... View Article

August 2011

The medical management of gout revisited

Gout has a significant impact on Māori in New Zealand. Management can be classified into three areas – treatment of an acute attack,... View Article

August 2011

Genes, fructose, allopurinol and gout

A short article on gout with specific reference to Pacific peoples. View Article

November 2010

TNF inhibitors - an update

Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors are used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis,... View Article

November 2009

Symptomatic management of osteoarthritis

The key treatment of osteoarthritis is to provide information and resources that help patients to cope, including advice on exercise... View Article

October 2008

Prevention of osteoporosis

Osteoporosis and subsequent fracture may be prevented by maintaining adequate calcium and vitamin D levels, undertaking regular... View Article

October 2008

Rheumatoid arthritis - monitoring of DMARDs

Most people with rheumatoid arthritis require early treatment with disease modifying-anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy to control... View Article

October 2008

Update: Gout in the Māori community

Gout is a significant health issue for Māori. This article explores Māori perception of gout and updates evidence from... View Article

May 2008

Gout - Hit the target

Gout is an arthritis caused by the inflammatory response to intra-articular monosodium urate crystals. Supersaturation of urate... View Article

September 2007

Dear Dave

What is the significance of the warning between ACE inhibitors and allopurinol. View Article

June 2007