Our immune system is armed with an array of defenses designed to detect and eliminate harmful threats. One of its most powerful defense mechanisms is the complement system—a group of proteins that patrols our body, ever vigilant for signs of infection or injury.
A Canadian population, retrospective cohort study shows individuals needing hospital-based (emergency department or hospitalization) care for a cannabis use disorder (CUD) were at increased risk of death.
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) applauded the bipartisan introduction of the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act of 2025, legislation to fully offset the harmful 2.8% cut in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). The bill, led by Representatives Greg Murphy, MD (R-NC) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), includes an additional 2% payment update to physician services furnished after April 1 of this year.
A 24 year, prospective study analyzing very early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in three consecutive eras suggests that RA has evolved since 2005, demonstrating less seropositivity, inflammation, and erosions but is characterized by more comorbidity, smoking and corticosteroid use.
BMC has published a full read literture review of pharmacological pain management in rheumatoid arthritis, pointing out that the best evidence for pain control comes from the use of DMARDs and treat-to-target strategies. In contrast, there is widespread use of analgesics in RA, although the evidence supporting their use is often lacking. More research in the area of pain management in RA is needed.
The British Society for Rheumatology has published its guideline for the management of adult and juvenile onset Sjogren's disease. This guideline is an update to the 2017 guideline and is based on medical literature review focused on 19 clinical questions. While most of the diagnostic recommendations were "Strong", treatment recommendations were a mix of strong and "conditional" recommendation.
JAMA has published a University of Minnesota cross-sectional study showing early adult (ages 25-44) mortality in the U.S. has risen substantially between 2011 to 2019 and 2020 to 2023. The largest portion of 2023 excess mortality was driven by drug poisoning, but many other external and natural causes exceeded what prior trends would have projected.
A technique now widely used in sports medicine to speed recovery from leg injuries helped reduce symptoms and improve function in people with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, a randomized trial showed.
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. We also have two call-in cases on "Ask Cush Anything".Be sure to join in the fun at RNL 2025 next weekend - Gong Show Karaoke; what will you sing?
The American Gastroenterology Association has published its revised clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation in at-risk patients, particularly those with immune-mediated disease, receiving immunomodulatory therapy and steroids.
A large cohort of 18-year-old Swedish males were followed longitudinally for cardiovascular, respiratory, and musculoskeletal outcomes. They found that high body mass index (BMI) and smoking in youth were linked to the studied diseases later in life.
The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology today announced the results of a data analysis from a randomized phase III clinical trial involving patients with stage III colon cancer, which found that adding the drug celecoxib to treatment after surgery might help those who still have traces of cancer in their blood.
Some dietary habits are worse than others when it comes to gout risk for women, a large study indicated.
A large Chinese cohort study of patients with infectious sacroiliitis (SI) suggests that CT-guided biopsy of the sacroiliac joint is necessary to properly identify the infectious pathogen leading to SI.
Orthotics are cost-effective, externally applied devices designed to stabilize the joints and provide a conservative measure to alleviate joint pain and improve function. Options include therapeutic shoes, shoe inserts, hand splints/braces, wrist support and finger splints. This article reviews some of the indications on the use of orthotics in patients with RA.
