All News
RheumNow Podcast – Pandemic Numbers (4.3.20)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news on COVID-19 and FDA actions this past week. Be sure to check out:
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CDC: Impact of Underlying Health Conditions Among COVID-19 Patients
The March 31 release of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) reviews the impact of several key comorbidities, most commonly diabetes mellitus, chronic lung disease, and cardiovascular disease, as cofactors leading to worse outcomes with COVID-19 infections. Below are e
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ACR Infusion Guidance During COVID-19 Crisis
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has published a guidance document on infusions and office based therapies.
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Dr. Artie Kavanaugh - Don't Stop!
Drs. Cush and Kavanaugh discuss the downside of stopping hydroxychloroquine, DMARDs and biologics in lupus, RA and pregnancy.
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Global Rheumatology Alliance Registry Will Study COVID-19
In the midst of a global pandemic of the 2019 Novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (COVID-19), a small handful of Rheumatologists gathered on social media to collectively grapple with the impact of this virus on vulnerable populations with rheumatic disease.
COVID-19 Rheumatology News
With the COVID-19 pandemic dynamically changing, we have provided several news items germane to the Rheumatologist.
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The COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Registry
As the highly virulent SARS-CoV-2 spreads over the world, uncertainty and fear for our patients with rheumatic diseases mount.
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RheumNow Podcast- Corona Increases RA Risk (3.13.20)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Switching Biologics in JIA
While there are numerous agents approved for use in juvenile idiopathic arthritis, little is know about actual use biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) use or switching in the biologic era. A cohort comparison study has shown that after an unsuccessful trial of a first biologic, changing to a second TNFi is as effective as switching to a non-TNFi biologic.
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EMA Final Recommendations on VTE Risk with Tofacitinib
On 14 November 2019 the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded that Xeljanz (tofacitinib) could increase the risk of blood clots in the lungs and in deep veins in patients who are already at high risk. These recommendations have been formally published and are intended for EU nation
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Need for Disruptive Innovation in Rheumatology
A full-read, novel Viewpoint article published in the Annals of Rheumatic Disease (Huizinga TWJ, et al) spotlights a recent international meeting of big thinkers, scientific collaborators and industry dedicated to innovation in rheumatology.
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RheumNow Podcast- Methotrexate Mechanisms (2.28.20)
Dr Jack Cush Reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com
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Why You Should Come to RheumNow Live March 13th
RheumNow Live kicks off its second annual meeting - a little, big meeting in Fort Worth - in just 2 weeks and I think you should be there.
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ACR Releases Reproductive Health Guidelines for Rheumatic Diseases
Today, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) published the 2020 Guideline for the Management of Reproductive Health in Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases.
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RheumNow Podcast- Half-Empty Flu (2.21.20)
Dr Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com
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Adverse Effects of Low-Dose Methotrexate from the CIRT Trial
Low-dose methotrexate (LD-MTX) was studied in high risk cardiac patients in the cardiac intervention trial (CIRT), but was prematurely ended for not showing a change in cardiovascular event rates. Nonetheless this trial studied the safety and adverse event rates of LD-MTX and those results are reported in the current issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
RheumNow Podcast - RWCS Quick Hits (2.14.20)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the highlights from the 2020 RWCS meeting in Maui, Hawaii.
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Start with Anti-TNF in RA? Not So Fast
The suggestion to hit rheumatoid arthritis (RA) early and hard with biologic therapies itself took a hit in a new study.
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ENTRACTE trial studied the risk of major adverse CV events (MACE) in 3080 RA pts Rx with tocilizumab (TCZ) vs etanercept (ETN), and found no increased risk of MACE in TCZ patients compared to ETN (HR 1.05 (95% condence interval 0.77–1.43). https://t.co/QxOlzfDcZD
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2019 EULAR Recommendations for the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis
The 2019 update to the EULAR recommendations on the use of synthetic and biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been published in Annals of Rheumatic Disease - highlighting the efforts of an international consensus committee effort.
In the end, the task force put forth 5 overarching principles and 12 recommendations concerning use of conventional synthetic DMARDs, glucocorticoids, biological DMARDs, biosimilar DMARDs, and targeted synthetic DMARDs (the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors tofacitinib, baricitinib, filgotinib, upadacitinib).