Not sure what Minimal Disease Activity or MDA is and how it relates to psoriatic arthritis and your joints? Listen as rheumatologist Dr. Arthur Mandelin explains what MDA means.

Join hosts Jeff Brown and LB Herbert as they discuss minimal disease activity in psoriatic arthritis with nationally recognized rheumatologist Dr. Arthur Mandelin who identifies what it is, factors that influence achieving MDA, how long it takes to reach, and the impact on selection of treatments. Dr. Mandelin also addresses fatigue associated with inflammation, and what the future holds for minimal disease activity in psoriatic arthritis.

Whether you have psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, this episode offers information to help you understand management goals set by your doctor and the importance of attaining minimal disease activity.

Timestamps:

• (00:00) Intro to Psound Bytes & guest welcome rheumatologist Dr. Arthur Mandelin
• (02:23) What is minimal disease activity (MDA)
• (04:32) MDA in comparison to ACR response criteria
• (07:36) Criteria for reaching MDA
• (09:20) Positive and negative factors of MDA
• (11:25) Importance of reaching MDA within a specific time frame
• (17:34) Length of time to reach MDA
• (18:48) Selection of treatment options and psoriatic arthritis domains
• (23:51) Inflammation and fatigue
• (26:59) A look at the future of minimal disease activity in psoriatic arthritis: Reaching ACR 90
• (29:09) Advancements in psoriatic arthritis: Finding disease markers
• (33:40 ) If you have psoriasis, be aware of your risk for psoriatic arthritis

4 Key Takeaways:

• There are various ways to measure minimal disease activity in psoriatic arthritis to assess how the disease impacts quality of life.  
• Attaining and keeping minimal disease activity low through use of different therapy options offers a chance for better bone and joint outcomes.
• Advancements in psoriatic arthritis include attaining ACR90 and the potential for identifying key markers that make treatment selection more targeted and individualized.
• Those who have psoriasis need to realize bone and joint pain, and swelling in the joints may be related to their psoriatic skin disease and seek appropriate help.

 Guest Bio:

Dr. Arthur Mandelin is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Department of Medicine Division of Rheumatology. Dr. Mandelin launched Northwestern University’s first training program in musculoskeletal ultrasonography for rheumatology fellows. He is an active participant in the REASON Group which is a multi-center research collaboration devoted to using ultrasound guidance to obtain minimally invasive synovial tissue biopsies. Dr. Mandelin is a past member of the National Psoriasis Foundation’s Medical Board where he served on consensus panels for the development of a variety of practice guidelines.

 Resources Mentioned:

• National Psoriasis Foundation: https://www.psoriasis.org
• PEST Screener: https://www.psoriasis.org/psoriatic-arthritis-screening-test/
• PsA Action Month 2025: https://www.psoriasis.org/psa-action-month/
• NSAIDS  for Psoriatic Disease: https://www.psoriasis.org/advance/nsaids-for-psoriatic-disease-psa/
• AMP (Accelerated Medicines Partnership): https://www.psoriasis.org/advance/progress-and-success- through-collaboration/

 Tags:

psoriasis, skin, psoriatic arthritis, minimal disease activity, ACR20, ACR50, ACR70, tender joints, bone erosion, joint swelling, enthesitis, inflammation, pain, fatigue, axial disease, spinal involvement, treatment, NSAIDS, biologics, personalized medicine, dermatology, National Psoriasis Foundation, AMP, Psound Bytes podcast, Soundbites podcast