All News
Opioid Use in Osteoarthritis Varies by State
A study in Arthritis & Rheumatology shows that there is substantial statewide variation in rates of treatment with long‐term opioid therapy in osteoarthritis - not fully explained by differences in access to healthcare providers, varying case‐mix, or state‐level policies.
Read Article
NEJM Review - Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis
Lenore Buckley and Mary Humphrey have published a nice review of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP) in the NEJM.
Read Article
Opioids Double Rates of Suicides and Overdoses
An article in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that the rates of suicide and drug overdoses has doubled in the last 17 years, and that opioids are largely to blame.
Read Article
RheumNow Podcast – A Grand New Year (1.4.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journals for the beginning of 2019. All from RheumNow.com.
Best wishes for a charmed 2019! My advice: 1. Just show up. 2. If you can, then you must do. 3. Live each day as if it twas your 1st day/last day/make or break day. 4. Teach.
2018 Rheumatology Year In Review
This annual appraisal of hallmark moments, news and research articles from 2018 are gleaned from that published in RheumNow during the last year and filtered by other news sources and literature review. The top 10 list herein is rooted in what rheumatologists should know and what will likel
Read Article
Cryotherapy Never FDA Approved
Another injury related to whole body cryotherapy (WBC) has been reported by practitioners in Philadelphia, serving as yet another warning of WBC's potential to cause serious adverse effects.
Read Article
Dendrimer Nanocarrier Delivers IGF-1 to Degenerative Cartilage
Researchers from MIT have developed a novel treatment for osteoarthritis (OA) by using dendrimer-based nanocarriers to deliver insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) to chondrocytes within joint cartilage and in animal models have shown when these nanocarriers injected into rat knees in models of O
Read Article
Limited Impact of Vitamin D Supplementation
A systematic review of 81 studies on vitamin D concludes that vitamin D supplementation does not prevent fractures or falls, or have clinically meaningful effects on bone mineral density.
Read Article
Post-Approval Exploratory Trials with Pregabalin Often Fail
A systematic review of 238 pregabalin (Lyrica) trials for nonapproved indications shows that nearly two-thirds yielded uncertain evidence of efficacy, thereby questioning the off-label use or endorsement in clinical practice guidelines.
Read Article
MMWR: Death by Firearms
The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) reports that during 2015–2016 there was a total of 27,394 firearm homicides and 44,955 firearm suicides among US residents, with 12% and 5% of events occuring in children 10–19 years.
Read Article
RheumNow Weekly Podcast – 3 Wiseguy Rheumatologists (11.9.18)
Dr Jack Cush reviews the News and Journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. Be sure to check out our upcoming meeting in March 2019 - RheumNow Live.
Read Article
Intensive Patient Education Does Not Improve Low Back Pain Care
JAMA reports on a randomized clinical trial of 202 adults with acute low back pain showing the addition of intensive patient education failed to improve pain outcomes.
Read Article
Musculoskeletal Events with Statin Use
Analysis of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System data examined the association between statins' musculoskeletal adverse events (MAEs).
Read Article
Guidelines for Patellofemoral Pain
New recommendations have been published in the Journal of Athletic Training on the management of patellofemoral pain (PFP).
Read Article
Controversial New Super Opioid Approved by FDA
Amidst a new DEA report demonstrating a record number of opioid overdose deaths (n-72,000 or ~ 200 deaths per day), the FDA has approved a newer and far more potent opioid than those that are currently being abused at alarming rates. The new agent is named Dsuvia.
Read Article
Late Breaker: Can Tanezumab Be Revived for OA?
The monoclonal antibody tanezumab, which blocks nerve growth factor, showed significant benefits in pain and function among patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee or hip, and rates of severe adverse joint events such as rapidly progressive OA that had plagued earlier studies were low, a re
Read Article
RheumNow Week in Review – ACR Preview Edition (10.19.18)
Dr. Jack Cush summarizes the news and reports from RheumNow.Com this past week and previews RheumNow activities at the upcoming ACR 2018 meeting in Chicago.
Read ArticleNEJM Debate on Medical Marijuana for Chronic Pain
This week’s NEJM features a case discussion and debate over whether medical marijuana should be used to treat chronic pain. The debate focuses on a 31-year-old woman with long-standing complex regional pain syndrome in her leg and foot.
Read Article
Complex Pain Syndromes in the Emergency Room
Emergency physician Chris Hahn, MD, doesn't have any trouble conjuring a simple definition of fibromyalgia. "Just think about the most annoying chief complaints you can imagine. That's the diagnostic criteria."
Read Article
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - a Leading Cause of Work Related Disability
MMWR reports that workers’ compensation claims for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in California during 2007–2014 were 6.3 per 10,000 full-time equivalent workers, with female workers and workers in industries that manufacture apparel, process food, and perform administrative work being at highest r
Read Article
