MONDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) -- The risk of rheumatoid arthritis is twice as high in women who had a heavy birth weight (more than 10 pounds) than those with an average birth weight (7 to 8.5 lbs), a new study finds.

Researchers at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City, analyzed data from more than 87,000 women who took part in the U.S. Nurses' Health Study between 1976 and 2002. The women were aged 30 to 55 at the start of the study.

Clinical Trials Update: June 25, 2008

(HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of CenterWatch:

Interstitial Cystitis

If you are 18 or older, and have had moderate-to-severe pain, pressure or discomfort due to painful bladder syndrome for at least six months, you may qualify for this study.

The research site is in Mountlake Terrace, Wash.

More information

Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studi....

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Vaccines

If you are 68 or older and had a pneumonia vaccine at least three years ago, you may qualify for this study.

FRIDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with methotrexate have an increased incidence of melanoma and other cancers, an Australian study says.

Methotrexate (MTX) is a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) commonly prescribed to RA patients. A link between the drug and cancer has been suggested, and there are even concerns that the drug itself may be carcinogenic, but research examining this concern has proven inconclusive.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants an updated label for Amgen Inc.'s Enebrel to include warnings that the rheumatoid arthritis drug can be deadly when taken by children, and that the drug can cause serious infections in adults, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

In documents posted on its Web site, the FDA said infections, malignancies and neurological problems have been reported among children who have used the drug. These problems are similar to those experienced by some adults, the newspaper reported.

WEDNESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- Adding monthly injections of golimumab to weekly doses of methotrexate helped most people with rheumatoid arthritis, even putting some into remission, two new studies show.

The findings on golimumab, an anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha biologic therapy drug, were scheduled to be presented Tuesday at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress of Rheumatology, in Paris.

TUESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- Women who breast feed for more than one year reduce their risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by half, according to a new Swedish study.

The researchers also found that having children but not breast-feeding offered women no protection against the disease.

Taking oral contraceptives also failed to reduce the risk of RA. It's been suspected that oral contraceptives offer protection against the disease because they contain hormones that are elevated during pregnancy.

FRIDAY, April 25 (HealthDay News) -- Substances found in a type of Chinese ant may provide anti-inflammatory and painkilling benefits against several diseases, a new report says.

By Steven Reinberg
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 20 (HealthDay News) -- The new anti-arthritis drug tocilizumab, now being tested, appears to be effective in relieving the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in both adults and children, according to the results of two new studies.

By Steven Reinberg
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 6 (HealthDay News) -- People taking medications for rheumatoid arthritis may also be reducing their risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study suggests.

By Carolyn Colwell
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Feb. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Methotrexate, one of the most common drugs used to ease rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, will not raise a patient's risk for blood cancer, a new study finds.