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RheumNow Podcast – Jack of All Subspecialties (10.1.2021)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com
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CDC Advises COVID-19 Vaccines for Pregnant Women
Today, CDC issued an urgent health advisory to increase COVID-19 vaccination among people who are pregnant, recently pregnant (including those who are lactating), who are trying to become pregnant now, or who might become pregnant in the future to prevent serious illness, deaths, and adverse
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Gout Flare and Treatment Studies Lacking in Severe Chronic Kidney Disease
Gout is a common comorbidity amongst those with chronic kidney disease (CKD), with the added challenge of choosing best therapies in the setting of declining renal function. A systematic literature review notes significant deficiencies regarding the efficacy and safety outcom
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Early Diastolic Dysfunction in Premenopausal Women with RA
A two-dimensional/Doppler echocardiography of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) detected premature, clinically quiescent diastolic function.
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Starting Febuxostat During an Acute Gout Flare
A randomized controlled trial in gout patients has shown that starting febuxostat during an acute gout flare was without ill-effects and did not prolong the gouty attack.
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Early Antibiotic Use Increases JIA Risk
A population based Swedish study of birth records shows that antibiotic exposure in first three years of life to be associated with a future risk of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), although infections during fetal life or childhood did not increase risk of JIA.
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Is Acetaminophen Potentially Hazardous in Pregnancy?
A consensus report from a multinational group of 91 scientists, clinicians and public health professionals alarmed the medical world last week as they suggest the use of acetaminophen (paracetamol) during pregnancy may have hazardous developmental effects on the fetus.
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No Recurrent Cancer Risk With Biologic Treatment of RA
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had a history of cancer did not have an increased risk of new or recurrent cancers if treated with biologic therapies, a meta-analysis found.
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RheumNow Podcast – I Wanna New Drug.V2 (9.24.2021)
Almost three years ago to the day, I did a podcast entitled, "I wanna new drug." As I go over this week's podcast, I want to say it again. I want a new drug safe enough to use during pregnancy, for PMR, for GVHD, and more. I'm going to cover these, and other topics including lupus, COVID breakthrough infections, and statin use and the risk of RA, as I review the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.
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Guselkumab Treats Axial Disease in Psoriatic Arthritis
Pooled analysis of the DISCOVER-1 and DISCOVER-2 trials have shown that guselkumab, an IL-23 inhibitor, was effective and safe in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients with axial involvement and imaging-confirmed sacroiliitis.
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IL-6 Inhibition in Refractory Systemic Sclerosis
A small, single-center cohort analysis of difficult, refractory systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients showed that treatment with tocilizumab (TCZ), an interleukin-6 inhibitor, resulted in significant improvement in joint and skin involvement, regardless of SSc disease duration or subtype.
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High Comorbidity Rates with Inclusion Body Myositis
Inclusion body myositis (IBM) patients tend to be older than those with idiopathic inflammatory myositis (IIM), but the scope of disease beyond their myositis is not appreciated.
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Worrisome Maternal Mortality with COVID-19 Infection
Maternal and fetal outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic have not been well studied; yet a new retrospective study from Mexico indicates that during the pandemic maternal mortality increased by nearly 57%, with COVID-19 as the cause in 23% of cases.
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RheumNow Podcast – Do More DMARDs Mean More Switching? (9.17.2021)
Smartphones and diet; COVID-19 and the numbers - reassuring or not, and what about masks?; and do more drugs mean more switching, less persistence, and patient adherence goes up...or down? All this and more news and journal reports in this week's episode.
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Canakinumab Use in Periodic Febrile Disorders
A retrospective records review of patients with periodic fever syndromes (PFS) receiving IL-1 inhibitor treatment with canakinumab (CAN), shows CAN to be effective and safe in a variety of PFS patients.
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Effect of Diet on COVID Outcomes
A smartphone-based symptom study of COVID-19 patients has shown that a healthy plant-based diet was associated with lower risk and severity of COVID-19, especially amongst those living in areas with higher socioeconomic deprivation.
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Different Regimens but Equal Outcomes in Polyarticular JIA
CARRA (Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance) has compared 3 different treatment strategies for polyarticular JIA to identify the optimal time to biologic regimen.
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Risk Factors Associated with Systemic Sclerosis Hospitalization
A retrospective study of systemic sclerosis patients shows that acute hospitalization and mortality were not uncommon and were often linked to SSc-related lung disease.
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COVID Breakthrough Infections in Rheumatic Patients
Analysis of records from the Mass General Brigham healthcare system in the Boston area, shows that breakthrough infections (after receiving SARS-CoV-2 vaccines) in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs) are not uncommon, and may be severe or fatal.
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Diagnostic Delay in Half of Psoriatic Arthritis Patients
A Mayo Clinic/ Olmsted County study of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients has shown that more than half (55%) of PsA patients had a diagnostic delay of > 2 years, and that this delay has not improved over time.
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