Dr. John Cush
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Obesity & Biologic Treatment Response
Prepared for "The Obesity Imperative" campaign.
https://t.co/72TFW6BWgG https://t.co/XWFWoH2D33
Article
Obesity is an incidental comorbidity in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). It is a modifiable, mechanistically active driver of disease onset, severity, and treatment failure. A new comprehensive review in RMD Open (Madsen et al., 2026) synthesizes 49 studies suggesting that weight management belongs in
Dr. John Cush
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Study of 119 Rheum pts on GLP-1 Rx (65% T2DM, 35% obesity; mean BMI 35). @ 12 mos wt loss −7.7 kg & 56% improved ≥1 BMI category. Signif decr in A1c, FBS, lipids, LDL, TG, ESR & CRP. GLP-1RAs useful cardiometabolic benefits https://t.co/fdNtvGu8Vb~ https://t.co/vM3Ukr9XUF
Dr. John Cush
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Metabolomic/proteomics w/ cardiac MRI & longitudinal outcomes in 488079 UK Biobank pts shows chronic systemic inflammation assoc w/ reduced LV volumes, incr CV risk (cytokines, GFs, IL-1, TNF as potential mediators) https://t.co/3woGOttKHz https://t.co/eJLkPyJe6U
Dr. John Cush
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Systematic review 14 studies assessed Lung ultrasound (LUS) (vs HRCT) to detect RA-ILD (using threshold of ≥ 5 B-lines) found sensitivity was 86.8% (95% CI 80.1–91.4), specificity 75.4% (95% CI 62.3–85.1), and AUC 0.890 https://t.co/GlNpsPBwtS https://t.co/FJ6B5E5CWy
Article
Prognostication is tenous in early scleroderma, especially in those with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc). dcSSc has associated with substantial morbidity and disease-specific mortality. Analysis of an early SSc registry shows that anti-RNA
Dr. John Cush
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Study of 119 Rheum pts on GLP-1 Rx (65% T2DM, 35% obesity; mean BMI 35). @ 12 mos wt loss −7.7 kg & 56% improved ≥1 BMI category. Signif decr in A1c, FBS, lipids, LDL, TG, ESR & CRP. GLP-1RAs useful cardiometabolic benefits https://t.co/fdNtvGu8Vb~ https://t.co/EdAqXfsjW0
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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com
Dr. John Cush
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Research at Cedars-Sinai used synthetic noncoding RNA TY1 in a bleomycin mouse model of scleroderma, noting improved exercise tolerance, CV function, lung hydroxyproline, skin thickness, less fibrosis. TY1 attenuates the cGAS/STING pathway https://t.co/jOwlPokxKE https://t.co/aIgIPzZbGa
Dr. John Cush
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A Day of Infamy (9.11.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on Rheumnow - including obesity, disappointing durability with GLP-1 drugs, AI diagnoses and worries about CV risk in ANCA-associated vasculitis.
https://t.co/gzaqNz3i5k https://t.co/c8ShScutqC
Dr. John Cush
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Metanalysis 11 studies & 104277 gout & hyperuricemic pts shows erectile dysfunction is signif. increased (RR1.37; 1.14-1.65) related to lower testosterone & estradiol. Other factors: obesity, age, DM, CVD. https://t.co/1ufih2E3UN https://t.co/NgQuHt4vR1
Dr. John Cush
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Waist size matters! Using NHANES data (1999-2018) the weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) calculated on 5582 CKD pts. WWI was signif assoc w/ all-cause mortality (adj HR 1.17) & CV (1.24); these assoc partially mediated by NLR (inflammation) ~6.6%, showing both central adiposity https://t.co/kNf4nqiD2a
Article
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on Rheumnow.com - including obesity, disappointing durability with GLP-1 drugs, AI diagnoses and worries about CV risk in ANCA-associated vasculitis. And take this week's RheumIQ quiz
Dr. John Cush
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Swedish Pt Registry of 4317 AAV pts showed GPA & MPA had signif incr risk of CV dz (HR 2.04) & thromboembolism (HR 2.45); males incr MI risk (HR 2.25) & females incr ischemic stroke risk (HR 1.64). Sibs had no excess CVD-TE risk. The highest CVD-TE risk occurred within 3 mos. of https://t.co/FdbIXoCZf0
Dr. John Cush
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Sleep and Obesity: A Bidirectional Relationship
In July 2026, JAMA published a concise review of the bidirectional relationship between sleep health and obesity. Obesity affects roughly 40% of US adults, and sleep problems affect nearly one-third. This review outlines the https://t.co/cA6P4aOHR0
Dr. John Cush
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Guidelines for Adult-Onset IgA Vasculitis
A EUVAS-sponsored expert panel of 37 specialists across rheumatology, nephrology, dermatology, and pathology published evidence-based guidelines for adult-onset IgAV, which behaves very differently in adults than the usually https://t.co/12T8lJhPFe
Article
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from this past week on RheumNow.com. Take this week's RheumIQ and test your knowledge!
Article
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a chronic autonomic disorder affecting an estimated 0.1%–1% of the US population, with peak incidence at ages 13–29 and a striking 90% female predominance.
Dr. John Cush
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Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in RA
RA confers a 50–100% excess risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) that remains even when remission is achieved. Disease control reduces but does not eliminate thrombotic risk.
https://t.co/GXvuucL3ze https://t.co/fTw6UY7eZH
Dr. John Cush
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Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Rheumatoid Arthritis
RA confers a 50–100% excess risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared with the general population, with adjusted hazard/odds ratios ranging from 1.3–2.2 across large cohort studies (Vojinovic, Askling, Antovic; https://t.co/IsS6vqo6vU
Dr. John Cush
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Italian SPRING cohort of #SSc pts found only 5.3% (of 1689 pts) without the typical scleroderma pattern on nailfold change by NVC. They had milder dz, with less vascular dz (pitting scars 33 vs 48%), telangiectasias (52 vs 74%), calcinosis 3.4 vs 12%) & higher DLCOs at 12, 24, https://t.co/AoNAhVYfII
Article
RA confers a 50–100% excess risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared with the general population, with adjusted hazard/odds ratios ranging from 1.3–2.2 across large cohort studies (Vojinovic, Askling, Antovic; Rheumatology, 2026).
Dr. John Cush
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Multiple chronic conditions (MCCs; AKA multimorbidity) is highly prevalent in AIRDs; complicates Rx & increases adverse outcomes & all-cause mortality. MMCs 86% in RA, 81.5% in SLE, w/ a notable patterns of cardiopulmonary and mental health disorders https://t.co/AOWCsEodXR https://t.co/NyAR0TUQkE
Article
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles this week where RheumNow featured info on cancer, deadly viruses, AI rules, poetry and good moons rising.
Article
The phase 3 ZEUS trial (published in JAMA Dec. 2025) tested the IL-6 ligand inhibitor ziltivekimab in over 6,000 patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and elevated hsCRP—a population enriched for an inflammatory driver of risk.
Therapeutic Updates
Watch our 11-video series on ILD Treatment and Guidelines including videos on assessing ILD, guidelines caveats and concerns, and more.
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Recent Blogs
How would you manage a patient with Overlap (anti-synthetase) syndrome, ILD, polyarthritis and myositis?
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.
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Dr. Michael Putman (Milwaukee, WI) reviews his approach to screening for ILD and RA, the potential for overdiagnosis and how this impacts treatment choices. Does this differ from your approach?
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Podcasts
ACR Podcast - Day1A
EULAR 2021 - Day2c00:37:25