All News
Naysayers & Disrupters (3.22.2024)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week - including a few contrary reports on infection, seropositivity and plasmapheresis.
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CV Risk Early with Rheumatic Disease Diagnosis
A Finnish populaton study shows that the temporal relationship between cardiovascular (CV) comorbidities in rheumatic diseases (RMD) is seen early after the RMD diagnosis.
2023 EULAR Psoriatic Arthritis Recommendations
EULAR has updated its treatment recommendations from the prior 2019 guidelines, since which there have been several newly developed agents. The updated guidance includes 7 overarching principles and 11 recommendations regarding treatment strategy and pharmacological therapies.
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Expert Panel Guidance on Managing Psoriatic Arthritis and Comorbidities
An expert panel has published their consensus guidelines for the management of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and it's comorbidities in the journal Rheumatology.
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Chronic MSK Pain and Earlier Retirement
Frequent musculoskeletal pain is linked with an increased risk of exiting work and retiring earlier, according to a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE.
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Infection and Rituximab-linked Immunoglobulin Deficiency
A minority of immune-mediated inflammatory disease (IMID) patients treated with rituximab (RTX) are expected to develop and depressed immunoglobulin (Ig) levels. A recent cohort analysis suggests that RTX-induced Ig deficiency was not associated with an increased risk of severe infecti
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Washington Post: Case of Delayed Rheum Diagnosis
The Washington Post recently published a "medical mystery" case titled, "Medical Mysteries: A rolled ankle set this runner down a painful path", which tells the tale of how and why rheumatologists are often not consulted or are consulted too late.
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Insights on Postinfectious ME/CFS
The medical community is challenged by myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS - its origins, pathogenesis outcomes and treatment. JAMA has reviewed a recent Nature paper wherein an NIH led team of multidisciplinary experts performed an inpatient study of postinfe
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Ides of March (3.15.2024)
Dr. Jack Cush has advice for Caesar and the superstitious, and covers pregnancy, platelets, dialysis and vaccinations in Lupus.
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MMWR: Vaccination and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare but serious condition typically occurring 2–6 weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection and characterized by fever and multiorgan involvement. The current MMWR report shows that MIS-C case numbers have decreased by 98% since 2021.
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US Trends in RA DMARD Use 2017-2021
A trend analysis of DMARDs shows that only half of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are taking DMARDs, and that the COVID-19 pandemic substantially affected DMARD use. Despite numerous DMARD advances and evolving treatment guidelines since 1990, older therapies are still commonly used and the latest agents make up a small percentage of overall DMARD use.
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Again, a High Mortality with Depression and RA
Last week we reported on a Korean study showing a 66% elevated mortality risk in RA patients (n=38,487) with depression.
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9 Facts about Leflunomide
Medscape has published an informative review of leflunomide, drawn from Dr. Eric Ruderman’s recent lecture on the subject at the February RWCS meeting in Maui.
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Hidradenitis Suppurativa-Related Autoinflammatory Syndromes
Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a suppurative inflammatory skin disorder that is considered to be autoinflammatory by many. HS includes a specturm of disorders, linked by suppurative (or psoriatic) skin disease and potentially genetics.
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JAMA Review of DMARD Use in Rheumatoid Arthritis
JAMA has reviewed the "2022 EULAR Recommendations for the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis With Synthetic and Biological Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs".
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Mixed Long-term Effects of Calcium and Vitamin D in Postmenopausal Women
A follow-up analysis of a randomized clinical trial found that the use of calcium and vitamin D supplements among postmenopausal women was associated with decreased risk for cancer mortality, but increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality.
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Effective Treatments for Still's Disease
A systematic review of pharmacological treatments for adult-onset Still disease (AOSD) supports the efficacy of tocilizumab (TCZ), anakinra (ANK), and canakinumab (CNK).
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Depression and RA (3.8.2024)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports and regulatory approvals from the past week.
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Lyme Disease 2022
The CDC has updated its Lyme disease surveillance report based on a new case definition. Compared to 2017–2019, the number of cases in 2022 rose by 69%.
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Increased Depression on Rheumatoid Arthritis
A Korean nationwide cohort study found that both seropositive and seronegative rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have a significantly higher risk of depression.
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