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Maui Potpourri (2.13.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the hot item takeaways from last week's RheumNow.Live 2026.
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Obesity, Surgery, and Optimizing Patient Care
Rheumatologic care involves multidisciplinary approaches and collaboration with specialties to treat complex, systemic diseases. While many Pods at RheumNow Live are disease specific, the Pod II focused on Advancing Practice on important and emerging areas affecting rheumatologic patients. This session focused on two major areas of need: obesity and peri-operative management.
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ANA Pollution (2.06.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal articles and regulatory news from this past week on RheumNow.com
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RT @ericdeinMD
#RNL26 @RheumNow
Uzma Haque
GLP1 on pts with SLE and diabetes
Retrospective study - major improvements in
MACE HR 0.66
VTE HR 0.49
Renal progession HR 0.77
Mortality HR 0.26
A major tool for rheumatic care! https://t.co/qR3HKfsugZ
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RT @gibson_rheumPAC
Baseline serum urate >8–9 mg/dL strongly predicts worse flares, hospitalizations, and joint damage over years. Urate level should inform urgency and intensity of therapy. #RNL26 https://t.co/4RBVXZxCCX
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RT @ericdeinMD
#RNL26
GLP on Knee OA
STEP 9 Trial - 68 wk
Mean WOMAC improved by 41.7 pts, compared to 27.5 in PBO, improved SF-36
7% stopped due to side effects https://t.co/LJzGzzlgq6 https://t.co/5ybyUdfNjZ
Links:
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RT @ericdeinMD
#RNL26
Dx Modification of OA
@Tuhina_Neogi
Challenge in drug develop:
Models in young animal, not like human OA
Trial enrollment in pts w late, establ OA- not early interv tx
Many paths to OA - target mechanism to correct pt
Slow progress of dx, $$
Endpt? Sx or
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RT @ericdeinMD
#RNL26
Placebo in Rheumatology - STEP talk
Kerschbaumer
What plays role in PBO?
Treatment adherence effect w better background therapy - may appear to be PBO
Impact in globalization of recruitment patterns, affects background PBO
Education of pts bridges gap
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RT @Gibson_RheumPAC
Obesity doesn’t just increase risk of rheumatic diseases-it worsens outcomes.
Patients with obesity have higher disease activity, poorer biologic response, and 20–25% lower remission rates in inflammatory arthritis. #RNL26
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RT @Gibson_RheumPAC
Nearly 50% of U.S. adults may meet criteria for obesity by 2030.
For rheumatologists, it directly impacts disease activity, outcomes, and treatment response. #RNL26 https://t.co/cpy4LBBPHc
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RT @gibson_RheumPAC
Osteoarthritis affects 600 million people worldwide—yet we still have no approved disease-modifying therapies.
A powerful opening to this talk on why OA drug development keeps missing the mark. https://t.co/wBUN3lux6X
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Study of 90 adolescents (46 w. Juvenile fibromyalgia (JFM) & 44 controls) finds that JFM pts have greater sensitivity to non-painful sensory stimuli, such as sounds and bright lights; such hypersensitivity is closely related to the severity of the disease and brain function https://t.co/KGqzRK6e4a
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RT @ericdeinMD
Mucosal Hypothesis RA #RNL26
Demoruelle
ACPA can predate RA development
Nam et al: non-specific jt pain: 42% developed RA in 12 mos
Circiumaro et al: MSK complaints 38% devel RA in 36 mo
APIPPRA: 29% at 12 mo, 37% at 24 mo, StopRA 18% in 12 mo, 33% at 36 mo https://t.co/JYiWmn0N0g
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RT @ericdeinmd
Mortality risk in RA #RNL26
Myasoedova
Premature deaths in up to 1/4 of pts
Decline in mortality in RA after year 2000
Full siblings of RA also high mortality (shared genetic or environ factors affect risk?)
Risks: Seropositivity, esp ACPA, CRP, extra-artic https://t.co/ytm6odmtgR
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
SGLT2 Inhibitors in Gout - Better Outcomes, Fewer Meds
Natalie McCormick, PhD (RACER Center, Mass General Brigham), led a new Diabetes Care study on gout-related medication use after starting SGLT2 inhibitors in patients with gout and type 2 diabetes.
https://t.co/BFJB3OY2L3 https://t.co/63Bu4t6LYM
Links:
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Methotrexate intolerance in rheumatoid arthritis
A current large rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cohort study from Cairo assessed methotrexate (MTX) use and found over half were MTX intolerant and a third of patients were noncompliant with MTX.
https://t.co/ODiVqUXBb9 https://t.co/QwmNkrjvn6
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
ALTO: Long-Term Abatacept Outcomes in At-Risk RA
Lancet Rheumatology has published the ALTO results - long term outcomes of the APIPPRA trial, demonstrating that treatment with abatacept (ABA) in at risk patients can delay progression to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for up to 4 https://t.co/Lb8md9cYbG
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Giant Cell Arteritis Outcomes in Canada
A retrospective cohort study of patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) demonstrates relapses are common and seen in nearly half of patients, were common after treatment is stopped and is not effectively averted by methotrexate (MTX). https://t.co/7hIpn6CJXg
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Which Fibromyalgia Drugs are Cost-Effective?
A cost-effectiveness analysis compared FDA approved fibromyalgia (FM) drugs (pregabalin, duloxetine, milnacipran) with amitriptyline and found duloxetine was the preferred strategy across perspectives.
https://t.co/5NZeYquGxs https://t.co/rhcwH2yLEm
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
NEXT STEPS: Karp and investigators are engaged in the MONA LISA study - Using smile Data and biospeciments – they intend to look for biomarkers that may better predict the future development of SLE Dr. David Karp lecturing at UTSW @drdavidkarp @utswrheum https://t.co/acZD1kmNhq
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
