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Supportive vs Flexible Footwear in Hip Osteoarthritis
Do shoes make a difference in osteoarthritis (OA)? Common advice often suggests that stable supportive shoes can improve arthritis symptoms in the knee, but does this apply to hip osteoarthritis?
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Epidemiology of Dry Eye Autoimmune Disease
Dry eye rates upwards of 20% were seen across nine common autoimmune diseases other than Sjögren's, most often in rheumatoid arthritis (39.3%) with Crohn's disease bringing up the rear (23.0%), according to Chi-Chin Sun, MD, PhD, of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Keelung, Taiwan, and colleagues.
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3 Months of Romosozumab in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis
A report in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology suggested that 3 months of romosozumab (ROMO) followed by denosumab is as effective at increasing hip bone mineral density (BMD) as the standard 12-month course.
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FDA Commissioner Marty Makary is seeking to make more drugs available without a prescription; and has stated “everything should be over-the-counter” unless the drug is addictive, unsafe, or requires monitoring. https://t.co/CGurlOWO8m https://t.co/bFwkpZ3kbn
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Full read review of JAK inhibitors. JAK inhibitors have a reasonably rapid onset of action and a short half-life, which facilitates management of any adverse effects. The half-life of Tofacitinib, Baricitinib & Upadacitinib is 3 hrs, 13 hrs. & 9-14hrs. https://t.co/jKO2LL2TVC
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Epidemiology of Dry Eye Autoimmune Disease
Rates upwards of 20% were seen across nine common autoimmune diseases other than Sjögren's, most often in rheumatoid arthritis (39.3%) with Crohn's disease bringing up the rear (23.0%), according to Chi-Chin Sun, MD, PhD, of Chang Gung https://t.co/lnacSUlrI8
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Congratulations to Dr. Kevin Tracey for being named toTIME100 2026 Health list. He is president & CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and helped develop vagal N. Stimulation in RA from SetPoint https://t.co/rgtVUldNLt https://t.co/Y4ka9GSORx
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Case-control study of 72 estab. & 56 early RA pts the diagnostic performance of 14-3-3η testing showed AUC ≥0.85 for early & estab.RA. Early RA, -CCP had better specificity (96.4%) and a positive likelihood ratio (21.2%), while 14-3-3η had higher sensitivity (88.1%) https://t.co/jaUux9quy6
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
3 Months of Romosozumab in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis
A report in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology suggested that 3 months of romosozumab (ROMO) followed by denosumab is as effective at increasing hip bone mineral density (BMD) as the standard 12-month course. https://t.co/6HfGFZqavF
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
July 2024 survey of 143 women (18-45 yrs) with rheumatic disease shows only 63% used effective contraception. In those previously pregnant, 33% experienced an unplanned pregnancy, highlighting contraceptive failure. https://t.co/tR6976vmJp https://t.co/1XRkQfWL5r
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Sonelokimab (SLK) is a nanobody that inhibits IL-17A & IL-17F. Press release from Moonlake shows SLK was effective in the phase 2, S-OLARIS study of 26 axial spondyloarthritis pts where 80+% of patients achieved ASAS40 by Week 12 https://t.co/BQjBcvESfe https://t.co/tXRKj8CPbz
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Nice simple overview of SCLERITIS. https://t.co/ndnfi6nZuA https://t.co/bzkOgupk7C
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Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Real-world study of 1202 #PsA pts shows that secukinumab retention rates were lower w/ smoking (79%/73%/72% in never/former/current smokers) but not w/ obesity (72%/77%/77% in normal/overweight/obese), Adh HR signif. higher w/ former (1.32) & current smokers (1.27) https://t.co/1REWmod73W
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Review of Calcinosis Cutis - Surgical intervent. most effective (excision, curettage, laser ablation, etc). Medical measures inconsistently, partially effective, best if used early & localized (CCB, TCN, probenecid, immunomodulation, biologics, colchicine, NA thiosulfate, & JAKi https://t.co/rv0hQBv6nX
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Referral Rules to Live By (2.20.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow. Highlights include referral rules, combination biologics in psoriasis, and don't use JAK inhibitors in pregnancy.
https://t.co/thzetw5jwa https://t.co/HTjWyqFqDZ
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Diagnosing and Managing GCA and Takayasu’s Arteritis
Giant-cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu’s arteritis (TAK) are both large-vessel vasculitides, but each brings its own diagnostic and management challenges. Many of the difficulties overlap because they are rare, https://t.co/ePJqcMjcBA
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Peripheral manifestations are inconsistently assessed in axSpA trials. b/tsDMARDs have small-to-mod effects on peripheral Sxs & may be underestimated. Assessments in axSpA RCTs were low for periph arthritis 54%, enthesitis in 64% and dactylitis in only 10% of studies. https://t.co/cCNvU1oZMh
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Full read review & update on Rhabdomyolysis. 26K cases/Yr in USA. Muscle damage leading to weakness, myalgias, swelling, myoglobinuria, electrolyte probs, AKI. Causes: 1) exogenous toxins (46%); 2) trauma; 3) myopathies/metabolic muscle dz (10%), infxn. AKI in 46%, & death in https://t.co/E2LcLeMls0
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA)in systemic sclerosis? Retro study of 165 SSc pts (20% diffuse, 33% ILD, 7% PAH); 51% centromere AB+; 29% topoisomerase I+, 12% RNA polymerase III+)-- 22% AMA-positive: assoc w/ GI vascular dz(OR 13.3), gastric antral vascular ectasia (OR 8) & https://t.co/epMgfbj5uW
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Referrals - Orthopedics or Rheumatology?
A question, often asked with urgency, posed by those who genuinely don’t know who to see for a musculoskeletal (MSK) complaint. Inquiring patients, family, or other physicians may be one forum for such a request. Another occurs in the https://t.co/aIoSaSvdIk
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
