A prospective, phase 3 trial of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in sustained remission has shown more than half will flare if disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) therapy is tapered or discontinued and that remission is best maintained by continued DMARD therapy.

October 8, 2021 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved avacopan (trade name: Taveneos), an oral complement 5a receptor inhibitor, as an adjunctive treatment of adult patients with severe active anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis).

Arthritis numbers are rising, and people are finally talking about osteoarthritis. Also, ACR 2021 is just a few weeks away - are you ready? Finally, I'll review cases and questions submitted by viewers in Ask Cush Anything (#ACA). This, and nearly a dozen news items and reports, are discussed in this week's podcast. Let's begin.

While myositis-specific autoantibodies (MSAs) and myositis-associated autoantibodies (MAAs) may have prognostic value through their clinical associations, many patients will not have them and overall, they are poorly predictive of a malignancy risk. 

The latest CDC estimates of the national prevalence of arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitations (AAAL) show a continued increase in absolute number: 58.5 million (23.7%) U.S. adults have arthritis, 25.7 million (43.9%) of whom have AAAL. 

An erosive hand osteoarthritis (EOA) study from the Osteoarthritis Initiative shows that EOA is more common in older women and is strongly linked to further progressive, articular structural damage. This was a longitudinal cohort study of 3,365 individuals without prevalent erosive hand OA at baseline.

Ogdie and colleagues have retrospectively analyzed a longitudinal cohort of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients, showing that only two-thirds of PsA are diagnosed by rheumatologists, PCPs and dermatologists, with significant differences in what preemptive symptoms were noted by different subspecialties.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) imparts a significant disabilty and quality of life (QoL) limitations worsened by aging, but also by malnutrition.

Patients with longstanding systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who were considered frail were more likely to accrue disease damage over time, a secondary analysis of data from a Chicago lupus cohort found.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has published their Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Osteoarthritis of the Knee (Non-Arthroplasty); updating 19 of the 29 evidence-based recommendations and focuses on nonsurgical treatmentss to provide pain and patient function.

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that obesity rates have risen in the USA during the pandemic. Sixteen states have obesity rates of 35% or higher - that's four more than last year, adding Delaware, Iowa, Ohio and Texas to the list.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com A population based Swedish study of birth records shows that antibiotic exposure in first three years of life to be associated with a future risk of JIA, although infections during fetal life or childhood did not increase risk of JIA. #RheumNow https://t.co/Md0zBm5Txl

Today, CDC issued an urgent health advisory to increase COVID-19 vaccination among people who are pregnant, recently pregnant (including those who are lactating), who are trying to become pregnant now, or who might become pregnant in the future to prevent serious illness, deaths, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Discussions on drug safety can be as treacherous as quicksand for the patient and physician. What the physician knows and what the patient perceives may not be in sync.

Gout is a common comorbidity amongst those with chronic kidney disease (CKD), with the added challenge of choosing best therapies in the setting of declining renal function.  A systematic literature review notes significant deficiencies regarding the efficacy and safety outcomes of gout flare prophylaxis and therapy stratified by different levels of renal dysfunction.