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Early RA Referral Clinics Work (9.18.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com
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A Day of Infamy (9.11.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on Rheumnow.com - including obesity, disappointing durability with GLP-1 drugs, AI diagnoses and worries about CV risk in ANCA-associated vasculitis. And take this week's RheumIQ quiz!
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Treating Obesity is Disease-Modifying (9.4.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com. New drugs approved, new drugs halted and some drugs out of control. Ready to test your knowlege? Take this week's quiz!
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Music and Pain Relief
If laughter is the best medicine, then music has to be second best. A new scoping review in Pain Reports by Bradt et al., examines the effect of music-based interventions (MBIs) on pain management. While its efficacy is well established, how or why music relieves pain has never been fully explained.
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Obesity management goes far beyond the number on the scale.
Watch our Four Pillars of Weight Loss video series, part of this month’s The Obesity Imperative campaign.
What Are the Four Pillars of Obesity Management?
Building a Multidisciplinary Program for Obesity & Arthritis https://t.co/3tjeST1wWs
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Bariatric Surgery in the Era of GLP-1RA
Overweight/obesity is a chronic multi-system disease that can impair physical and mental health. It now affects almost 1 in 3 Canadians. Multiple recent guidelines have therefore suggested using waist measurements, in addition to BMI, to https://t.co/RaXnQ2d9Yr
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
4,197 pts from the UK Biobank met fibromyalgia criteria, yet 72.6% had NOT received a diagnosis. Non-Dx assoc w/ male, older age, milder sxs or other pain Dx (OA, CRPS, CFS), lower polysymptomatic distress scores, and less frequent fatigue. https://t.co/Y9m9jR5wbR https://t.co/fitm675kyK
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Obesity management goes far beyond the number on the scale.
Watch our Four Pillars of Weight Loss video series, part of this month’s The Obesity Imperative campaign.
What Are the Four Pillars of Obesity Management?
Building a Multidisciplinary Program for Obesity & Arthritis https://t.co/16v4JFVWWs
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Discussing Weight Loss: 3 Minute Script
Dr. Jack Cush's 3 Minute Script as discussed in his Introducing Weight Loss video.
https://t.co/JRWAPc5if5 https://t.co/NUpxPT4bdo
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Weight Loss Improves Psoriatic Disease Substantially!
Even before the introduction of incretin therapy and bariatric surgery, many randomized and interventional studies (2019–2026) have consistently showed that weight loss produces clinically meaningful, dose-dependent https://t.co/BWeW7fzSC8
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Single center study of FALLs in 124 ambulatory RA females ≥50 yrs.(age 68 yrs, DAS28 2.6, sarcopenia 16%, prior fall 25%). 27.4% had falls; predicted by prior fall hx (OR 2.76, hypnotics/anxiolytics (3.92), not steroids or sarcopenia (NS trend) https://t.co/J62RPF9rQs https://t.co/OKxdPl5Oev
Links:
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Music and Pain Relief
A new scoping review in Pain Reports by Bradt et al., examines the effect of MBIs on pain management. While its efficacy is well established, how or why music relieves pain has never been fully explained. This systematic review is based on 663 records and https://t.co/0FJgzWSoOB
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Difficult PsA is called ‘difficult-to-manage’ (D2M) or ‘treatment-refractory’ dz (TRD). Data from 5 Nordic PsA registries 14,362 ps, D/Cs of ≥2/≥3/≥4 b/tsDMARDs in 36%/18%/10%. Freq of D2M low 2%/3%/3%, & TRD was 1.2%/1.2%/0.8%. Female #s, depression, & opioids incr w/ # of https://t.co/FkQU5BVRn2
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
RCT 451 chronic LBP in general practice shows 8-wk telehealth mindfulness reduced pain intensity and interference at 6 months compared with usual care, BUT changes did not meet the prespecified mean 1-point MCID between groups. Is it worth doing? https://t.co/H4oYTeq1is https://t.co/cozq7gGnYO
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Osteoarthritis, Obesity and GLP-1s
https://t.co/SGnWksQBpT https://t.co/TPxM4aj7bd
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
High BMI decreases the odds for MDA in PsA, esp w/ TNFi Rx (but not Inflx, IL-17i, IL-12/23i, IL-23i, JAKi). Longitudinal PsA cohort 1291 pts (mean BMI 29); Higher BMI independently assoc w/ signif. lower odds for MDA (OR 0.97), also female, age, smoking, FM & Xray damage. https://t.co/zAJ8Pmk1HY
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Music and Pain Relief
A new scoping review in Pain Reports by Bradt et al., examines the effect of MBIs on pain management. While its efficacy is well established, how or why music relieves pain has never been fully explained. This systematic review is based on 663 records and https://t.co/HBCURxB9WC
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
QD Clinic: The Weight Behind Delay in Diagnosis
Dr. Antoni Chan, London, discusses a case of a patient with ankylosing spondylitis whose weight delayed the diagnosis and treatment of AS. This QD Clinic is presented as part of RheumNow's "The Obesity Imperative" campaign, https://t.co/fDozAaX64j
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
Cochrane systematic review of LBP Rx (8 RCTs, 501 cLBP pts) show that Lumbar supports may result in a small reduction in pain intensity if given w/ NSAIDs, but may offer little to no benefit for pain intensity & disability if used alone. Insufficient evidence to support their https://t.co/6Vq4CPXLvE
Dr. John Cush RheumNow ( View Tweet)
