All News
Severe Hypocalcemia Risk with Denosumab and CKD Patients
On 1-19-2024, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Drug Safety Communication about the risk of severe hypocalcemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients taking denosumab for osteoporosis, with an accentuated risk in older women who are dialysis-dependent.
This report is an update to their November 2022 investigation, the results of a related study being recently reported in JAMA.
Methotrexate Nodulosis (1.19.2024)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com. How good (or not) are rheumatologists and what to do about MTX nodulosis?
Read ArticleRheumatologists and the Early Diagnosis of Spondyloarthritis
SPACE study of adults referred to rheumatology with less than 2 years of chronic back pain (CBP), shows that only one-third can be reliably diagnosed with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).
Read ArticleCMS Final Rule on Prior Authorization Reforms
Prior authorizations and paperwork are killing medical providers; the good news is that a new CMS rule may lessen the burden.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that they have finalized the CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule, designed to improve prior authorization processes and reduce burden on patients, providers, and payers, with a resultant $15 billion of estimated savings over ten years.
Fertility and Rheumatoid Onset
British women whose capability of bearing children either started late or ended early -- naturally or otherwise -- were at increased risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), compared with women with earlier menarche or later menopause, researchers found.
Read ArticleTic-Borne Disorders Causing Chronic Arthritis?
Findings from a population based cross-sectional study suggests that while up to 20% of patients have antibodies to tick-borne exposures, only a minority reported musculoskeletal symptoms.
Read Article2023 EULAR Non-pharmacological Management of Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis: 2023 update
EULAR has published the 2023 updated recommendations for the optimal non-pharmacological management of hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA).
Read ArticleSodium Channels, Carbemazepine and Osteoarthritis Progression
A study published in Nature suggests that therapies affecting sodium channels could be employed to treat osteoarthritis.
Read ArticleSLE: A Mutated Gene and TLR7 Overexpression
A group of researchers lead by Min Ae Lee-Kirsch from the Department of Pediatrics, Medical Faculty, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Germany), studied four patients from two families who developed symptoms of SLE in the first years of life.
Read Article2023 Rheumatology Year in Review
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights, advances and hot topics in rheumatology from 2023 and the RheumNow website.
2023 was a year of growth and new horizons while returning to operational and practice standards (in care and education) established before the pandemic.
Read ArticleIncreased CV Comorbidity in Dermatomyositis
A cohort study suggest that patients with dermatomyositis (DM) are at an increased risk for multiple comorbidities, including chronic kidney and cardiovascular disease,
Read Article2023 Rheumatology Year in Review
Here is my top 10 list (in no particular order) of 2023 advances, game-changers, and developments that changed, or will soon change, rheumatologic practices.
Read ArticleHormonal Status Increases RA Risk
Early menopause—before the age of 45—taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and having 4 or more children are among several hormonal and reproductive factors linked to a heightened risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women, finds a large long term study published in the open access journal
Read ArticleBlack, Asian, and Hispanic Military Members with OA Treated Differently
Black, Asian, and Hispanic members of the U.S. Armed Forces were far less likely than their white comrades to undergo knee replacement surgeries after being diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA), military researchers found.
Read Article2023 In Memoriam
In 2023, too many of our rheumatology colleagues passed away. Here is an incomplete list of our revered fellow practitioners, mentors, role-models, and researchers.
Read ArticleHeritability of Osteoarthritis
A Swedish study examine the genetic contribution to various rheumatic/musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) and showed that osteoarthritis (OA) had a large heritability compared with other RMDs.
Read ArticleEnthesitis, Synovitis, and Tenosynovitis in Psoriatic Arthritis
An ultrasound study suggests that enthesitis is associated with both synovitis and tenosynovitis in patients with Psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
Read ArticleSarcopenia Linked to Smoking in Osteoarthritis
Sarcopenia commonly has been linked to aging and arthritis and contributes significantly to quality of life and outcomes, but the association between sarcopenia and OA has not been well established.
Read ArticleBiomarker Predicts Survival in Autoimmune Lung Disease
One major subgroup of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) arising from polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) survived significantly longer when serum levels of interferon-λ3 were relatively low, researchers found.
Read ArticleBest of 2023: Does Biologic Treatment in Psoriasis Reduce the Risk of Psoriatic Arthritis?
Retrospective claims analysis shows that psoriasis patients treated with either an IL-12/23 inhibitor or an IL-23 inhibitor had a lower risk of developing incident psoriatic arthritis, compared to TNF inhibitors or IL-17 inhibitors.
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