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RheumNow Podcast – The Beat Goes On (5.8.20)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
TNR Grand Rounds: IL-6 in Health and Disease
Dr. Len Calabrese from the Cleveland Clinic delivers this week's Tuesday Nite Rheumatology Grand Rounds, entitled "IL-6 in Health and Disease: Where Rheumatology Meets COVID-19".
Dr. Calabrese provides a comprehensive review of IL-6 biology, and discusses IL-6 signaling, IL-6 roles in health, exercise, infection, innate and adaptive immunity as pertains to both rheumatology and the management of coronavirus infection.
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Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Hydroxychloroquine's World of Confusion - What you Need to Know
Hydroxychloroquine has been a dominant news item since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, with a great deal of misconceptions by those who don't know or use or take the drug. HCQ leaped to the headlines on March 19th when President Trump endorsed the drug as being “approved” by FDA. Of course at that time, it was still only approved for SLE, RA and malaria and it wasn't until 2 weeks later (March 31st) that the FDA issued an "emergency use authorization" allowing the use of either chloroquine or HCQ for treatment of severe, hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
To provide clarity and evidence - here are some of the facts you need to know.
Lenabasum Encouraging in Systemic Sclerosis
The oral cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) agonist lenabasum showed promising results for systemic sclerosis (SSc) in a phase II study.
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IL-6 Inhibitors May Benefit COVID-19 Infection
In the last few days there have been encouraging "preliminary" reports that IL-6 inhibition by either tocilizumab or sarilumab may be efficacious in patients with severe coronavirus infections.
TNF Inhibitors Reduce and Stabilize Coronary Plaque
Arthritis & Rheumatology reports that biologic (bDMARD) use in rheumatoid arthritis may decrease cardiovascular disease risk by retarding coronary plaque formation and progression (especially non‐calcified and low‐attenuation plaque).
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RheumNow Podcast – In Times of Trouble (4.24.20)
Dr Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports, twitter feed and COVID developments from the past week on RheumNow.com
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Potential Role of B Cells in COVID
A pre-proof letter to the editor in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology presents a series of patients with immunoglobulin deficiency disorders and how they differentially responded when infected with the coronavirus.
They identified seven Primary Antibody Deficiencies patients with COVID-19 infection; five affected with Common Variable Immune Deficiencies and two affected with Agammaglobulinemia, one with X-linked Agammaglobulinemia and one with Autosomal Recessive Agammaglobulinemia.
COVID-19 and the Slippery Road of Cytokine Storms
Early reports on the COVID-19 pandemic allude to a cytokine storm or hyper-inflammation, especially in patients who succumbed to the illness.
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A Role for Netosis in COVID-19 Infection?
Journal of Experimental Medicine has published a paper from a consortium of researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) on the potential of neutrophil extracellula
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Tuesday Nite Rheumatology Grand Rounds - Febrile Disorders
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the appproach to evaluating fever in adults suspected of having a rheumatic disease, Stills disease or autoinflammatory conditions.
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COVID-19 Systemic Involvement
The presentations of the COVID-19 infection have been clearly chronicled with the worrisome onset of sore throat, dry cough, loss of smell and taste with fevers, myalgias, fatigue and the worrisome progression of pulmonary involvement in a minority. Lab findings may include a leukocytosis,
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RheumNow Podcast – The Beginning of Something Else (4.10.20)
Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com
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Coagulopathy and Antiphospholipid Antibodies with Covid-19
The New England Journal of Medicine has featured a report of three COVID infected patients, who developed peripheral and central infarcts with a antiphospholipid antibodies.
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TNR - Grand Rounds: Safety of Biologics & New Agents
On Tuesday, April 7th, RheumNow hosted its first Tuesday Nite Rheumatology webinar - kicking off a two-month series of Rheumatology Grand Rounds lectures. The first session featured Jack Cush, MD (UT Southwestern) who lectured on "The Safety of Biologics and Newer Agents".
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Incubation Period for COVID-19
The incubation period for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has important implications for surveillance and control activities. The Annals of Internal Medicine reports a pooled analysis of confirmed COVID-19 cases January 4, 2020 and February 24, 2020.
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NICE Guidelines on Managing Rheumatologic Conditions During COVID-19 Pandemic
On April 3rd, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK, published a rapid guideline for managing children and adults with rheumatological autoimmune, inflammatory and metabolic bone disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, while protecting staff from infection.
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The Immunologic Basis of Wellness in the COVID-19 Era
We indeed are living in interesting times and we all are seeking not to contract COVID-19 - this is logical. While our goal is to avoid infection, I think we all must agree that our aspirations must encompass more than disease avoidance. What we should be seeking now, as well, is more than absence of disease but rather a state of optimal wellness.