Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
Pesticides and Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Women exposed to pesticides through farm work or as farmers' wives face increased risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a new analysis of Agricultural Health Study (AHS) data indicated.
https://t.co/ISddKbnxMY https://t.co/E5tpX5D70X
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
Diminishing trend in serious infections assoc w/ TNFi use in inflammatory arthritis over the years. ICEBIO study 1387 Rx w/ 1st TNFi 2003–2018 (vs 6936 comparators. Over tme the SI rate dropped 52% (IRR 0.48; 0.25–0.94), but not for controls (Abx use stable) https://t.co/jDsKlCrd0p
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
New ICD-10 Diagnostic Code -- R76.81 -- for ’At-Risk RA’ (AKA Clinically suspect arthralgia or Pre-clinical RA); this applies to pts w/ abnormal RF or ACPA without having RA. Thanks to Dr. Kevin D. Deane for leading this effort. https://t.co/14I6RCZrXb https://t.co/YxTwPB0YDQ
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
PMR & GCA not assoc w/ increased mortality, Norway study of 274 isolated PMR (mean age 72 yrs) & 63 GCA (age 72 yrs) pts. After mean F/U 13.7 yrs 96% were deceased. Standardized mortality ratio was Not incr for PMR (0.97)or GCA (1.10), but men w/ PMR had , lower all-cause https://t.co/Mgq920awbD
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
FDA has accepted BLA for BAT2506, a biosimilar of Simponi (golimumab) for all approved doses, formulations, & indications of reference product, with a request for interchangeability (BsUFA: May 16, 2026) https://t.co/kVFAz9ltlr https://t.co/LqdzsXlqER
A systematic review of anti-RNA polymerase III antibodies (ARA) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients finds ARA positivity in only 9% of SSc patients, but come with a higher risk of many potentially worrisome outcomes.
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
Fibrosis in IgG4-related disease due to the overexpression of early growth response-1 (EGR-1) by Epithelial cells that facilitates tissue fibrosis https://t.co/PBMqjr0MVV https://t.co/d9b7k2zwYE https://t.co/25aIjIrYm3
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
NHANES, Numbers, & Risk (7.18.2025)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow along with interesting case questions from "Ask Cush Anything".
https://t.co/6DYqAS2rwq https://t.co/7kChNUOx35
On June 27th, 2025, the FDA approved emapalumab for macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) in known or suspected Still’s disease (including both adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA)) with inadequate response or intolerance to glucocorticoids.
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
Retrospective review of 457 Autoimmune liver disease pts found 42.5% with Polyautoimmunity. Predictors included ANA positivity (78 vs 47%), ANA titers, dsDNA (12 vs 2%), RF+ (25 vs 9%), disease duration, low albumin, high ESRs. https://t.co/Socl6XWU9a https://t.co/8qomVBh3KP
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
Osteoarthritis (OA) degenerative or inflammatory? 296 pts w/ Knee OA (age 63 yrs, 2/3 had poor oral hygien, K&L grade 2, pain >40). Periodontitis in 62.5% & signif assoc w/ Xray K&L grade 4 (OR 5.39), poor oral hygiene (OR 34), dental visits (OR 8.54), brushing time (OR 21.9) https://t.co/xXIr2qxtt4
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
La Paz study of 903 RA pts; 136 (14.5%) were D2T-RA, 96 for inefficacy. They define early vs Late D2T-RA=44.5 mos, & differed>> Early D2T-RA (1/3) pts more likely to have anxiety or depression (76% v 0), higher CRP @6mos, & time to develop D2TRA (35 vs 70 mos) https://t.co/KFG68y9Uq5
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
Zasocitinib (Tyk2 Inhibitor) Efficacy in Psoriatic Arthritis
A highly selective, tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor zasocitinib (TAK-279), was studied in a phase 2b trial and found to be effective and safe patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
https://t.co/HB0eVLLAh6 https://t.co/5Kqopaw6wL
A retrospective Harvard affiliates study shows that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with lung disease have higher mortality, especially respiratory and infection-related mortality than those without lung disease (LD).
Dr. John Cush RheumNow
1 year 2 months ago
BMS announced today that the FDA has accepted for review the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Sotyktu (deucravacitinib) for the treatment of adult active psoriatic arthritis. The FDA decision (PDUFA) date is March 6, 2026. https://t.co/yMxkUP5FAw https://t.co/2teEUbWFem
