Anti-Rheumatic Rx

Stop,pills,water

Stable SLE - Should you Withdraw Immunosuppressant or Glucocorticoids?

Jack Cush, MD

An open-label, single-centre, randomized controlled trial tested whether immunosuppressant (IS) withdrawal is noninferior to glucocorticoid (GC) withdrawal in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and found that IS withdrawal is noninferior to GC withdrawal in SLE patients in long-

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Very low & very high vitamin D (25/OH) levels assoc w/ adverse pregnancy outcomes - miscarriage (P = 0.0045) & preterm delivery (P = 0.0007). APO were lowest w/ 25(OH)D levels of 40 to 59 ng/mL. Monitor vit D and Rx during SLE pregnancies https://t.co/Z9jEgETqId https://t.co/fJRqD3v7UF

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Secondary Benefits to SGLT2 Inhibitor Use in SLE An emulation trial of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients yielded a significantly reduced risk of several cardiorenal complications among patients with SLE and type 2 https://t.co/aQK4Sc9tdU
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Contraception in SLE Pregnancy in SLE receives significant attention in rheumatology due to increased risks. Historically, women with SLE were advised against pregnancy. As of 2004, the maternal mortality rate was 20 times higher than the general population. Although recent https://t.co/89df0TKtF5
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Tuesday Night Rheumatology returns this month with the launch of Lupus Unlocked, starting with a special Journal Club session. Join authors Dr. Richard Furie and Dr. Brad Rovin as they walk us through their pivotal studies on lupus nephritis: 📄 Obinutuzumab in Active Lupus https://t.co/PdhC857sfX
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
EULAR Guidelines on Reproductive Health Rheumatology patients considering or actually having babies can safely take most of the medications currently used to treat their conditions, according to an updated guideline from the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology https://t.co/121I7Yb8Ki
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
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Keys to Mastery (5.2.2025)

Jack Cush, MD

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, articles and drug approvals from the past week on RheumNow.com. This podcast marks the beginning of our Lupus Campaign called "Lupus Unlocked: Keys to Mastery". This month's campaign on Lupus is sponsored by Aurinia.

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Secondary Benefits to SGLT2 Inhibitor Use in SLE

Jack Cush, MD

An emulation trial of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in systemic lupus erythematosus patients yielded a significantly reduced risk of several cardiorenal complications among patients with SLE and type 2 diabetes.

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FDA Approves Rinvoq for Giant Cell Arteritis Based on the results of the SELECT-GCA study, the US FDA has approved upadacitinib (Rinvoq or UPA) for the treatment of adults with giant cell arteritis (GCA), also known as temporal arteritis. This is the 9th FDA approved indication https://t.co/gPTwnR2VLw
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Rheumatoid,RA,nodules,damage

Complex Evolution of RA Management and Outcomes

Jack Cush, MD

FIRST is a Japanese longitudinal, real-world registry of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) management, and over the last 20 years has shown significantly improved outcomes, yet significant challenges and unmet needs remain.

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EULAR Guidelines on Reproductive Health

MedPage Today

Rheumatology patients considering or actually having babies can safely take most of the medications currently used to treat their conditions, according to an updated guideline from the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR).

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US- Top Drug Rx Sales in 2024 Semaglutide $54 Billion Tirzepatide $31.7 B Adalimumab $28B Apixaban $26 B Empagliflozin $20.5 B Pembrolizumab $18 B Ustekinumab $17 B Risankizumab $16 B Dupilumab $15.6 B Etanercept $10.1 B Secukinumab $7.7 B Immune globulin $7.1 B Upadacitinib $7 https://t.co/Wjcu7LrTfC
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FDA Approves Rinvoq for Giant Cell Arteritis

Jack Cush, MD

Based on the results of the SELECT-GCA study, the US FDA has approved upadacitinib (Rinvoq or UPA) for the treatment of adults with giant cell arteritis (GCA), also known as temporal arteritis. This is the 9th FDA approved indication for upadacitinib in the U.S. for use in rheumatology,

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Metformin Effective in Osteoarthritis

MedPage Today

The diabetes drug metformin provided overweight/obese patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee with significantly greater pain relief than did placebo in a small randomized trial, researchers said.

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2024 Management of Familial Mediterranean Fever Recommendations

Jack Cush, MD

A EULAR/PReS combined task force has developed recommendations for the management of Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), the most common monogenic autoinflammatory disease worldwide. These evidence-based recommendations update the 2016 recommendations developed for rheumatologists and other HCPs

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Simplistic overview of Lupus Nephritis - causes, risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of lupus nephritis. https://t.co/QkLXUQcSqo https://t.co/pGjCHmoelG

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Diabetes Prevention with Hydroxychloroquine in Sjogren’s A Taiwanese insurance claims analysis looked at HCQ use in primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS) and showed that HCQ exposure significantly reduces the risk of new onset diabetes in pSS. Conversely, higher doses of https://t.co/GS07GVp5pC
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Better Responses with Chronotherapy for Baricitinib A nonrandomized, open-label, controlled trial has shown superior efficacy when baricitinib was given at night (instead of day); attesting to the benefits of chronotherapy - selective dosing meant to target the body's diurnal https://t.co/pEJIsJq0wE
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84 RA pts on CZP+MTX w/sustained LDA (CDAI ≤10) ≥ 12 wks. 1/2 OL withdrawal of MTX & @ wk 36, LDA was maintained in 85% on CZP+MTX vs 84% on CZP alone (w latter group having signif less GI Sxs (2.4% vs. 15.8%, P = 0.034) https://t.co/jGlNlmkae4 https://t.co/6e0ySRrRD4

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No Extra Cancer Recurrence Risk with Biologics in RA

MedPage Today

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in Denmark with a history of solid tumor cancers, now in remission, faced no greater likelihood of cancer relapse when they were treated with biologic agents, compared with conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

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Rheumatology: Believe It or Not (4/25/2025)

Jack Cush, MD

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. Should we believe the reviews and metanalyses?

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A review of 18 guideline recommendations on DMARDs in pregnancy & reproductive health. There were recs. DMARDs & pre-conception (56%), lactation (67%), male fertility (33%), & use of csDMARDs (72%), bDMARDs(72%), tsDMARDs (28%); less recs for b/tsDMARD use https://t.co/tKGCXrbOuc
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Vitamin D for Prevention of Disease

Jack Cush, MD

JAMA has published a clinical guideline on the use of vitamin D to prevent disease in children and adults. Guideline committee experts, included adult and pediatric endocrinology, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, nutrition, and epidemiology) advise that healthy nonpregnant persons

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Stills,continuum

Unmet Needs in Still’s disease

Jack Cush, MD

In February 2023, an expert consensus panel of pediatric and adult rheumatologists met to address challenges in Still’s disease (SD), including systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and adult-onset SD. They addressed four main topics: (1) early recognition and diagnosis of SD; (2) pathogenetic

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Retrospective EGPA study of mepolizumab Rx 45 pts Rx initially w/ 300 mg/4 weeks, 27% switched to 100 mg/4 wks after 26 mos & 50% maintained complete remission without GC. Other half had sinonasal Sxs Rx w/ increased MEP dose orlocal therapy. https://t.co/H8ftg136Ez https://t.co/CKchbGpq20

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Recent Blogs

Overlap Syndrome with ILD

Jack Cush, MD
Cush RheumThought ILD

How would you manage a patient with Overlap (anti-synthetase) syndrome, ILD, polyarthritis and myositis?

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Best of 2023: New ACR RA-ILD Treatment Guidelines – What Were They Smoking!?

Richard Conway, MBBChBAO, PhD
Lungs ILD
Rheumatoid arthritis related interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) is common, with symptomatic RA-ILD affecting approximately 8% of RA patients. There is a very limited evidence base supporting treatment and therefore the recent release of ACR guidelines is to be welcomed. However, the published guidelines appear discordant with the best available evidence base.  Read Post
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