Treatment for osteoporosis in Australian residential aged care facilities: consensus recommendations for fracture prevention.

Older people living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) are at considerably higher risk of suffering fractures than older people living in the community. When admitted to RACFs, patients should be assessed for fracture risk to ensure early implementation of effective fracture prevention measures. Routine or regular determination of calcium and phosphate serum levels in institutionalised older people is not indicated.

Therapeutic effect of the combination of etanercept and methotrexate compared with each treatment alone in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: double-blind randomised controlled trial.

Background: Etanercept and methotrexate are effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis but no data exist on concurrent initiation or use of the combination compared with either drug alone. We aimed to assess combination treatment with etanercept and methotrexate versus the monotherapies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods: In a double-blind, randomised, clinical efficacy, safety, and radiographic study, 686 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis were randomly allocated to treatment with etanercept 25 mg (subcutaneously twice a week), oral methotrexate (up to 20 mg every week), or the combination.