Dr. Jack Cush muses on the news, journal reports, FDA announcements and the 2024 BSR abstracts just released.

The Rotterdam study shows that weight-bearing recreational physical activity caused more incident knee osteoarthritis (KOA), but mainly when there was low muscle mass. KOA risk is traditionally linked to either obesity or injury. This study assesses whether muscle mass may influence osteoarthritis risk.

A cohort analysis of dermatomyositis (DM) patients starting immunomodulators finds that methotrexate use was not associated with an increased risk of interstitial lung disease (ILD).

Analysis of the German RABBIT registry shows that systemic inflammation, more so than disease activity, strongly influences all-cause mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and prevalent interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD).

In an open-label, randomized, non-inferiority trial, rheumatoid arthritis patients in remission were subject to tapering of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), and while maintenance of remission was seen in some, many DMARD tapering patients did flare and were unable to maintain flare-free survival compared to those on stable conventional synthetic DMARDs.

An investigational Toll-like receptor (TLR) antagonist was effective in reducing biomarkers and clinical symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a pilot trial, evidence that the innate immune system may hold the key to lupus pathophysiology.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews this past week’s news and journal articles from RheumNow.com.

Machine learning (ML) models were applied to 3 cohorts of lupus nephritis (LN) patients and established algorithms to predict co-infection in LN. 

An observational cohort study suggests that proteinuria levels in lupus nephritis (LN) patients did not predict their histologic class.

A multicentre observational study of patients with biopsy-proven LN; either proliferative (PLN) or membranous (MLN) lupus nephritis were compared regarding clinical and laboratory presentation and long-term outcomes. The primary outcome was progression to chronic kidney disease (CKD).

A clinical trial has shown that self-administered acupressure (SAA) is effective in relieving knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews regulatory reports, news and novel journal articles - this week focusing on Sjogren's, ILD, Gout and Uveitis.

A population-based cohort has demonstrated that sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) use in gout patients is superior to sulfonylurea therapy in lowering the risk of incident gout and recurrent flares among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). 

A prospective, multicenter study from Spain has demonstrated higher rates of mortality and serious infection in rheumatoid arthritis–associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) patients.

The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA), founder and administrator of the Lupus Accelerating Breakthroughs Consortium (Lupus ABC), announced today at the Consortium’s first anniversary meeting an expanded partnership with the U.S.

Sjögren disease (SD) is the most common of all autoimmune disease, yet little is know of its etiology and there are insufficient interventions for those affected with mucosal or systemic manifestations. 

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com. Is it time to worry about burnout and those who are leaving healthcare?

Anti–melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) antibody-positive dermatomyositis (DM) is a rare, aggressive and progressive subtype of DM.

Bone and musculoskeletal disease researchers and physicians from around the world will meet today in London, UK for the opening of the largest scientific event in the field, the World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Muscul