RheumNow Podcast – Back Talk: Questions from Listeners (10.23.20)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports, survey results and "Back Talk" questions from Rheums.

Remdesivir FDA Approved for Hospitalized COVID-19

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The FDA has approved Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral drug remdesivir for treating patients hospitalized with COVID-19, making it the first and only drug approved for the disease in the United States.

Clinical Trial Boom or Bust in Severe COVID-19

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A number of recently published clinical trials are further defining the efficacy and outcomes of tocilizumab or remdesivir in treating SARs-CoV-2 infection.

Remdesivir

RheumNow Podcast – Good Time Charlie…. (10.16.20)

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Dr. Jack Cush sings the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.

COVID Transmission from Young to Old

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The CDC has analyzed temporal trends in percent positivity by age group in COVID-19 hotspot counties before and after their identification as hotspots.

Hydroxychloroquine Shows No Benefit in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients

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The NEJM reports on a controlled clinical trial showing patients hospitalized with Covid-19 given hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) do not have a lower incidence of death compared to those receiving routine care.

RheumNow Podcast – Bad Disease & Bad Outcomes (10.9.20)

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Dr. Jack Cush Reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.

Oral Dysbiosis May Antedate Rheumatoid Arthritis

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A study of oral microbiome in anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) positive at-risk individuals without synovitis (CCP+at risk) shows dysbiotic subgingival microbiomes and increased abundance of P. gingivalis compared with controls.

Systemic Steroids Reduce Mortality in COVID-19

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JAMA Internal Medicine reports an analysis of COVID-19 clinical trials showing that critically ill patients with COVID-19 treated with systemic corticosteroids have an overall lower mortality rate.

2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine Goes to the Discovery of Hepatitis C

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The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus. These three scientists made a decisive contribution to the fight against blood-borne hepatitis C, a major global health problem that causes cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world.

RheumNow Podcast – Function Follows Form (10.2.20)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com. Regulatory approvals, update on global rheumatology alliance, smoking and psoriasis, gabapentin let down and defining difficult RA.

Low Risk of Latent TB with Secukinumab

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TB reactivation and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) are warned against with biologic agents, especially TNF inhibitors; yet clinical trial data now shows that the risk of LTBI with IL-17 inhibition via secukinumab is uncommon.

Hydroxychloroquine Fails as Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for COVID-19

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Numerous previous studies have questioned the efficacy or protection afforded by hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for COVID-19 and studies have show that HCQ has failed when given as post-exposure prophylaxis to health care workers (HCWs).  A new randomized controlled trial has shown that HCQ failed when given as 8 weeks of pre-exposure prophylaxis in hospital-based HCWs exposed to patients with COVID-19 patients. 

RheumNow Podcast – Cardiovascular Risk in Psoriatic Disease (9.25.20)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and Journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.

Young Adults are Driving Up COVID-19 Rates

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CDC reports that since June 2020 individuals infected with COVID-19 have largely been young adults in the 20-29 year age bracket. Moreover, younger adults appeared to be driving community transmission of COVID-19. 

Livedo, Purpura and Coagulopathy in Severe COVID-19

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JAMA Dermatology expands the spectrum of complications seen with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection describing cutaneous purpura and livedo lesions in patients with severe COVID-19.

CDC Reverses Guidance for Asymptomatic COVID Contacts

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Asymptomatic people who have been exposed to COVID-19 should be tested, the CDC said on Friday, in a reversal of controversial guidance the agency introduced in late August.

RheumNow Podcast – Lupus Delights (9.18.20)

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Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com:

COVID-19 Risks in Pregnant Women

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There has been little science or evidence regarding the effects of COVID-19 infection on pregnancy and vice versa; and now the recent MMWR addresses the subject with two new reports