News
Stopping therapy in GCA
They say the easiest bit about GCA, like PMR, is the first week after you start steroids. Those fond memories belie the challenge of ongoing treatment in GCA. In a steroid-only world, there is only misery. Steroid-sparing therapies have changed this completely.
Weight Loss as a Therapeutic Goal in Psoriatic Arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a complex inflammatory disease often complicated by obesity, which not only worsens disease activity but also impairs treatment response. At ACR Convergence 2025, three compelling studies spanning pharmacologic, lifestyle, and longitudinal observational data converged on a central theme: weight loss is a powerful modulator of PsA outcomes, regardless of the intervention used.
IgG4: Rare, but new treatments on the horizon
IgG4 is a rare autoimmune disease with excessive IgG4 immunoglobulins that can affect multiple organs yielding plasma cell deposition (inflammation) and fibrosis.
Upadacitinib: revisiting safety data in RA and GCA
For the last several years, conversations about JAK inhibitors have often started and ended with safety. The shadow cast by ORAL Surveillance has made clinicians more cautious and regulators more restrictive.
ACR 2025 - Day 3 Report
Day 3 in Chicago is hump day, the last big full day of presentations and posters. The day began with an 8AM plenary session, which brings me to the first of my three notables from today:
The Great Debate – Who Really Won?
My favorite session at ACR Convergence is often the “Great Debate.” The debate this year also evaluated one of my favorite topics – ultrasound in giant cell arteritis (GCA). More specifically, it asked the question of whether biopsy or ultrasound should be the preferred modality for diagnosing GCA.
Microbiome may hold key to methotrexate response in RA
Methotrexate (MTX) remains the cornerstone of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment, yet it remains unclear as to how to predict who will respond to it. Two studies presented at ACR (Abstracts 2639 and 2643) suggest the answer may be hiding in the gut.
ACR25 Best Abstracts - Day 3
Tweeting about an ACR presentation or poster is a skill and sometimes art -- one that is mastered by the RheumNow faculty roving the halls and floors for the best new insights at ACR Convergence 2025.
Accelerated Aging in Rheumatic Disease: From Biology to Lifestyle Intervention
At ACR 2025, the session “27M02: Nutrition for Rheumatic Disease: Where Aging Biology, Sarcopenia, and Diet Intersect” invited the audience to view rheumatic disease through the lens of biological aging and to consider how nutrition and exercise can serve as integrative lifestyle interventions.
The Decade Ahead: Predicting Long-Term Proteinuria Risk in SLE
The ACR Convergence 2025 in Chicago opens with engaging topics curated for the global rheumatologist. As a clinician, I always look forward to sessions that provide updates and practical key points that I can bring home and apply to my practice.
If We Can’t Prevent RA, Can We at Least Prevent Difficult-to-Treat RA?
Two new studies presented this year tackle a key question: can our initial treatment choices influence who ends up in the difficult-to-treat category?
The Long View of Diagnostic Delay in Axial Spondyloarthritis
Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) remains a diagnostic challenge, particularly in its early stages before structural sacroiliitis is visible on imaging.
ACR 2025 – Day 2 Report
Here are 3 abstracts that caught my eye on Day 2 at ACR25. Notably these have takeaway messages that should support your current practices.
ACR25 Best Abstracts - Day 2
After a full day at the Chicago Convention center the RheumNow faculty have posted some of their favorite reports included these that they labeled as being the "best' of day 2.
