All News
Sjögren's Graduates (8.22.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports, FDA approvals, drug safety, and more from this week.
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The Patient Journey with Rheumatic Disease
Oton and colleagues have reviewed the "patient journey" - from symptoms to specialty referral in those diagnosed with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs).
Repurposing & Pipeline (8.8.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, reports, pipeline and drug repurposing on this week’s podcast.
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A New RA Approval (8.1.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports and a new treatment for RA from the FDA.
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CKD & Osteoporosis Rx Revisited (7.25.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal and FDA updates from this past week on RheumNow.com.
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Hmmm Really? (7.11.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week - some obvious, other new thoughts and some - hmmm, reallly?
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High unemployment in Dutch SLE patients, linked to SLE Sxs & Dz duration.
Supervisor support helps with employment. https://t.co/E5jqmUHqo7
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
JAMA: Cognitive functional therapy (CFT) is effective in control of chronic low back pain. Study of 500 LBP pts Rx w/ usual care, CFT, or CFT with biofeedback over 3 mos. F/U of ~ 300 pts found that the benefits extended up to 3 years after the intervention. https://t.co/dLv53M7Xkp
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Ambient Dictation Works and Reduces Burnout
Passive documentation of clinic visits using artificial intelligence (AI)-drafted notes was linked to reduced burnout and improved well-being, a survey study from two academic medical centers suggested.
https://t.co/Tu3sOfZUBI https://t.co/WiC3uJeFEC
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Prenatal acetaminophen linked to increased autism and ADHD
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found that prenatal exposure to acetaminophen may increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder and ADHD, in https://t.co/Zpo9dymPPf
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RCT of 2331 chronic MSK pain pts showed that telehealth Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) (health coach) superior to self-care (Pain trainer) or usual care at achieving a >30% reduction in pain (32% vs 26.6% vs 20.8% respectively) & benefits were sustained at 12 months. https://t.co/a69zPsJslH
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Pain Flares in RA are just pain, not inflammation. Study of 195 RA pts (11+ yrs dz dur), 49-89% experienced at least 1 flare (median 2-4 flares/mo), IQR 2.1-5), lasting median of 2 days. Flares preceded by worsening mood, anxiety, sleepiness - but no change in Accelerometer https://t.co/csbHtiEglp
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Pain Flares in RA are just pain, not inflammation. Study of 195 RA pts (11+ yrs dz dur), 49-89% experienced at least 1 flare (median 2-4 flares/mo), IQR 2.1-5), lasting median of 2 days. Flares preceded by worsening mood, anxiety, sleepiness - but no change in Accelerometer https://t.co/twI6wcxKf7
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Metanalysis of 35 studies, 887 participants, shows 3 consecutive nights of sleep deprivation (~4.3hr/hs) assoc w/ signif. increase in IL-6 (p < 0.01) and C-reactive protein (p = 0.03) in blood. This was not seen w/ a single night of total or partial sleep deprivation https://t.co/M60wPUbsch
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
La Paz study of 903 RA pts; 136 (14.5%) were D2T-RA, 96 for inefficacy. They define early vs Late D2T-RA=44.5 mos, & differed>> Early D2T-RA (1/3) pts more likely to have anxiety or depression (76% v 0), higher CRP @6mos, & time to develop D2TRA (35 vs 70 mos) https://t.co/KFG68y9Uq5
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
BMJ - UK population study of 1.5 million adults finds pts w/ autoimmune dz have twice the risk of affective disorders (depression, bipolar dz, anxiety) significantly higher (p<0.001) (28.8% vs 17.9% in gen. population. Signif regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, income, Fam Hx, https://t.co/dsJxkvD4Nu
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Jokes Aside: The Impact of Laughter in RA
Dr. Aurelie Najm reports on POS0685, 'The Impact of Social Frailty and Physical Function on Laughter Frequency in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients from a Multicenter Observational Study (T-FLAG)', presented at EULAR 2025 in Barcelona, https://t.co/z3tvqQmH96
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Transcranial Stimulation is Effective in Fibromyalgia
A randomized, controlled clinical trial in fibromyalgia (FM) has shown the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (A-tDCS) (along with exercise and pain neuroscience education [PNE]), in alleviating the pain. https://t.co/kJk1R8ubqk
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Older adults with chronic MSK pain report lower physical health—but better mental health—than younger peers.
Fewer missed work days, too.
Is this resilience, adaptation, or shifting expectations with age?
POS0402 @RheumNow #EULAR2025
Jiha Lee JihaRheum ( View Tweet)
Presenteeism and absenteeism in RA aren’t just about joints. In this UK study, comorbid anxiety, depression, and OA drove lost productivity.
Treating RA is not enough —holistic management matters.
POS0403 @RheumNow #EULAR2025
Jiha Lee JihaRheum ( View Tweet)
