All News
EULAR 2024 – Day 2 Report (A Difficult RA Day)
Day 2 at EULAR 2024 was a big poster day for many with several good sessions and oral presentations on Preventing RA, new vasculitis therapies and a session devoted to the 50th anniversary of the Moll & Wright Criteria.
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Can we withdraw treatment in post-menopausal osteoporosis?
Analysis of French claims data, found over half of women initiating oral bisphosphonates (BP) between 2015 and 2020 discontinued treatment for at least one year, which was associated with a 12% increase in fracture risk.
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EULAR 2024 - Day 1 Report
Wednesday was Day One at EULAR 2024 in Vienna. While the day was a slow start, the poster halls and auditoriums quickly filled with thousands of rheumatologists, eager to reunite at this international educational forum. Below are a few of my favorites from Day 1.
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Humira Clobbers Biosimilars in Battle for Part D Coverage
Just about every Medicare Part D prescription drug plan on offer this year covers the original version of adalimumab (Humira), whereas only about half will pay for any of the several biosimilar versions currently approved, researchers found.
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Is Cannabis Safe? (6.7.2024)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews FDA approval, news and journal articles -- and it’s the week before EULAR 2024 in Vienna!!
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Cannabis Use is Common, But is it Safe?
Two current JAMA reports suggest that cannabis use is not only common, but that if heavily used may increase mortality rates.
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Molecular Profile for Cardiovascular Risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis
A new study led by the University of Córdoba, the Maimonides Institute for Biomedical Research and the Rheumatology Department at the Reina Sofía University Hospital in Córdoba has managed to establish, for the first time, the molecular profile of those patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have a higher risk of suffering cardiovascular events.
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JAK or TNF Inhibitor as First Drug for Rheumatoid Arthritis?
A Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor outperformed tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers for substantially reducing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms in patients for whom conventional anti-rheumatic drugs had failed, a pragmatic head-to-head trial found.
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2023 EULAR classification criteria for hand osteoarthritis
A EULAR consensus group has established classification criteria for overall hand osteoarthritis (OA) and its subtypes (interphalangeal OA and thumb base OA).
The criteria require two mandatory criteria to be met:
ACR Calls on CMS for Enhanced Transparency & Reporting
The American College of Rheumatology has submitted its response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) request for information and feedback from stakeholders on how best to enhance Medicare Advantage data capabilities and increase public transparency.
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Role of Diet in Gout Risk
Diet has long been influential in gout care and risks. A large cohort study has shown that plant-based diets may reduce the risk of developing gout.
This prospective study assessed the risk of developing incident gout based on consumption of healthy and unhealthy plant-based diets.
ACR’s Run at Goliath (PCPs) (5.31.2024)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the journal reports and articles from this past week on RheumNow.com. The ACR (and Cush) address their new website designed to educate PCPs and APPs - what do you think?
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Biologic-treated Psoriasis has Less Progression to Psoriatic Arthritis
A single center study demonstrates that biologic treatment of psoriasis (PsO) significantly reduces the likelihood of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) development; suggesting a role for more aggressive treatment of PsO.
ACR Website to Support Primary Care Practitioners
The American College of Rheumatology recently launched Rheumatology for Primary Care, a new resource for primary care physicians (PCP) and advanced practice providers (APP) offering them expanded support and guid
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Hypertension not associated with High NSAID Doses in AxSpA
At the recent SPARTAN annual meeting in Cleveland, Dr. Jose Meade-Aguilar reported that amongst axial spondyloarthritis patients receiving nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, there was no difference in the risk for hypertension when comparing those on high vs. low dose NSAIDs.
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No Great Options for Treating VEXAS
For patients with the auto-inflammatory disease VEXAS, treatment decisions are unfortunately fraught with tradeoffs between effectiveness and risk of adverse effects, a French registry study showed.
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The Window of Opportunity (5.24.2024)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the journal reports and news from the past week on RheumNow.com. This week: blockbuster drugs, opioids in rheumatology and nontreatment of inflammatory arthritis?
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Biomarkers Predictive of a Deucravacitinib Response in Psoriatic Arthritis
A phase II trial demonstrating the clinical efficacy of deucravacitinib, a TYK2 inhibitor, in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) suggests specific biologic effects identified by biomarkers may predict clinical responses.
Window of Opportunity in Psoriatic Arthritis
The Dutch southwest Early psoriatic arthritis (PsA) cohort study has demonstrated that the earlier the referral and diagnosis of PsA, the better the outcome.
No Link Between Autoimmune Diseases and Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance
Annals of Internal Medicine reports a study of more than 75,000 persons screened for monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and found no association between autoimmune rheumatic disease (AIRD) and MGUS.
