Dr. Jack Cush reviews EULAR 2018 and the past week's news and reports from RheumNow.com, including DMARDs in OA, the price of Penicillamine, Infections when ANCA+, CV outcomes in gout, NSAIDs in Pregnancy and Seropostive vs. Seronegative Outcomes.

A study from the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology analyzed pregnant women from the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system and compared newly pregnant women who took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or acetaminophen or neither showed that using NSAIDs around conception carried a more than four-fold higher risk of early miscarriage. (Citation source: http://bit.ly/2tqNWN6)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a new report showing that from 2004 to 2016, the number of Americans infected by mosquitoes, ticks or fleas tripled from 27,388 in 2004, to 96,075 in 2016. 

From 2015 to 2016, these infections rose by 73 percent. This included new Zika and chikungunya virus infections, (41,680 in 2016), followed by Lyme disease (36,429 cases). This may be an underestimation as as many infections are not reported.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. Highlights includes manpower shortfalls, comorbidities in AA Lupus, certolizumab pregnancy safety, which Shingles vaccine is best and the power of combination biologics in severe refractory  SLE.

Clowse and colleagues have published an extensive review of the certolizumab pegol (CZP) in pregnancy database, and found no evidence that CZP has a teratogenic effect or contributes to fetal harm when compared to the general population. 

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the highlights from the news, journals and major meetings. New announcements and approval from the FDA; novel associations between ANCA vasculitis and thyroid disease; flare rates after arthroplasty; and pregnancy outcomes for men and women.

Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism features a review of the effects of paternal use of antirheumatic drugs on pregnancy, specifically addressing the effects of NSAIDs, steroids, DMARDs and biologics on spermatogenesis and the effect on pregnancy outcomes and offspring.

A large cohort study of pregnant and non-pregnant women with systemic lupus erythematosus has shown that lupus flares are increased during pregnancy and in the 3  months follwing delivery.

Exposure to biologic therapies among women with autoimmune diseases was not associated with increased risks of preterm delivery or having small for gestational age babies, a population-based Canadian study found.

Pregnant women (n=254) with rheumatoid arthritis who enrolled in the MotherToBaby Autoimmune Diseases in Pregnancy Study  and who were taking oral glucocorticoids were studied. 

A systematic review of the literature on the relationship between diet during pregnancy, lactation, or the first year of life suggests that maternal ingestion of probiotic and fish oil supplementation may reduce risk of eczema and allergic sensitization to food, respectively.

The RheumNow Week in Review discusses the past week's news, journal articles and highlights from RheumNow.com. This week's report covers the price of biologics treatment in psoriasis, comorbidities in myositis, bronchiectasis with MPO antibodies, and the risk of secondary TNF failure with anti-drug antibodies.

PNAS reports use of ibuprofen by males may result in antiandrogen effects that may contribute to adult male reproductive problems.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news from the past week on RheumNow.com. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and SoundCloud.com. 

Despite a growing body of evidence suggesting that maternal health is more important than maternal medications to fetal and infant outcomes, little is known about the long term oucomes of infants born to mothers with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Using Danish population data, researchers have shown in utero exposure to maternal RA is associated with an increased risk of thyroid disease, and an increased risk of future RA.

Dr. Jack Cush covers the news and journal articles published on RheumNow.comin the past week.

Women with the autoimmune inflammatory myopathies dermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM) are at increased risk for hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, a nationwide retrospective study found.

This special edition of the RheumNow Week in Review covers highlights of selected sessions from the 2017 ACR annual meeting in San Diego. Dr.

With ACR 2017 winding down and the sheer volume of information seemingly overwhelming, I wanted to take the time to write an article regarding a few tips I learned that I will use in clinical practice.

In the afternoon on Monday, the ACR ran a clinical symposium on gout. One presentation stood out, on “Asymptomatic hyperuricemia” (AH) by M. Pillinger, MD from NYU Medical School. At issue is when should AH be treated.