All News
RheumNow Podcast – Bill of Rights (12.15.2023)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. Two major reports on fatigue and fibromyalgia misfired, and "ankylosing spondylitis" is sent to the Rheumatology dead word cemetery.
Read Article
ICYMI: Bimekizumab is Coming…in Third Place
Of the many exciting advancements for patients with psoriatic arthritis at ACR Convergence, one upcoming therapy stood out: the dual IL-17A/F inhibitor bimekizumab. Nearly two dozen bimekizumab abstracts will be featured at this year’s meeting and it recently received authorization in Europe and the U.S. for psoriasis. That makes this the year I plan to figure out where this drug will be useful for my patients with PsA.
Read Article
ICYMI: Methotrexate: shall we split up?
Methotrexate is widely used in rheumatic diseases yet poses common tolerance issues, especially for the oral form; and bioavailability is known to be limited for doses over 15mg. In the SMART study, Prasad et al. present the first RCT comparing either single dose (25 mg) or split-dose (10 mg morning, 15 mg evening, same day) once weekly MTX for 24 weeks.
ICYMI: ACR Plenaries: Changing the Practice of Rheumatology
Over the years of navigating the annual meeting, I found the sessions with the most impact to my practice were the Plenary Sessions. During these sessions, the latest research is presented, new ideas are floated, and old myths debunked. Here are the top ACR2023 Plenary abstracts I found impactful for my practice.
Read Article
EULAR 2023 Recommendations on Fatigue
Fatigue is highly prevalent in inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (I-RMDs) patients, is often unaddressed and yet it has significant effects on patient quality of life. A EULAR task force set out to develop recommendations for the management of fatigue in people with I-RMDs.
Read Article
ICYMI: Cancer and TNF inhibitors
Cancer risk minimisation is a high priority for people with rheumatic diseases, as it is for the general population. Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) have a long history of association with cancer risk discussions. An oral presentation by Suarez-Almazor et al provided more supportive data on using TNFi in this population.
Read Article
ICYMI: Urinary biomarkers precede loss of kidney function for lupus nephritis
In Abstract 0850, Dr. Andrea Fava from Johns Hopkins presents research on the value of urinary biomarkers as measure of intrarenal inflammation.
Read Article
ICYMI: Glucocorticoids-free zone in SLE?
For over 70 years, glucocorticoids, (GC) have been a part of standard therapy in SLE. They are classically used to not only induce remission or treat an acute flare, but also as maintenance therapy. They are a valuable 'friend' if used wisely, and can become a 'foe' if used excessively.
Read Article
CBT or Naltrexone in Fibromyalgia (12.8.2023)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com. Be sure to catch the early registration break for 2024 RheumNow Live.
Read Article
ICYMI: The Fallacy of Biologic Treatment to Prevent Rheumatoid Arthritis
The window of opportunity concept in RA shifted our focus to trying to treat disease earlier and more aggressively to improve long term outcomes. A natural development of this was to reconsider the possibility of therapeutic interventions aimed at the prevention of rheumatoid arthritis.
Read Article
ICYMI: New Biomarkers and Therapeutics Show Potential in Still's Disease
Adult-onset Still’s disease is a rare complex, sporadic, systemic autoinflammatory disease similar to systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis characterized by sustained fever, salmon-colored rash, and arthritis. The 2023 ACR convergence featured several abstracts spotlighting developments in understanding and managing this complex disease spectrum.
Read Article
ICYMI: Towards Personalised Care in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Since the millennium, we have seen an expansion in the number of advanced treatments both biologic and targeted synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs for rheumatoid arthritis. The challenge remains on how best to characterise the subtypes of RA in order to choose the best drug to ensure optimal outcome for patients.
Read Article
Is MTX Safe in the Elderly? (12.1.2023)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews this past week's news and journal reports from RheumNow.com. Good news is that nearly 99% of adult rheumatology positions matched! But the challenge is that 45% of pediatric fellowship programs and 39% of pediatric rheum slots were unfilled in the 2024 NRMP match.
Read Article
