Dr. Jack Cush reviews this week's news from RheumNow.com, including: placebo trumps controversial therapies, the dynamics of disease activity, fuse the big toe, and patients don’t appreciate being told “it's all in your head”!

HLA-B27 remains the dominant genetic link to spondyloarthritis (SpA) across the age spectrum, but B27 related clinical expression diverges between children and adults. New mechanistic data on autoreactive T cells, HLA-B27 misfolding, and gut-joint trafficking point to new plausible, targetable pathways.

A review article assesses and integrates mechanistic, imaging, and clinical evidence to examine whether effective treatment of psoriasis may modify the future risk of psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles this week where RheumNow featured info on cancer, deadly viruses, AI rules, poetry and good moons rising.

The rheumatology, genetics and NIH communities mourn for Dr. Daniel L. Kastner, who died on July 28, 2026, in Bethesda, Maryland, at age 74. The following are declarations, tributes, and memories dedicated to this mensch of a man, titan of science, memorable mentor and humble physician.

Researchers examined genetic data drawn from 11 different worldwide cohorts, that included from more than 2.5 million adults, of which 55,000 had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. They identified DNA sequence variants in 26 regions of the genome that affect the risk of developing fibromyalgia. Many of the genes implicated in these regions are involved in brain and nerve function. This is the largest fibromyalgia GWAS to date.

Beck et al has published a review of the VEXAS syndrome in The Lancet, focusing on the pathogenesis, spectrum, and treatment strategies.

New and updated clinical guidelines released today provide comprehensive, evidence-based recommendations for the management of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) for both adults and children.