Fibromyalgia/Pain

Metformin Effective in Osteoarthritis 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. https://t.co/7krvFFfRFC https://t.co/g1UyNjazUv

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Inflammatory vs. Noninflammatory Pain https://t.co/ZZLMnT8IVO https://t.co/AqqonM6Vht

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Inflammatory vs. Noninflammatory Pain https://t.co/ZZLMnT8IVO https://t.co/pD6nutctI0

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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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Senescent "Zombie" Cells and Low Back Pain In a preclinical study led by McGill University researchers, two drugs targeting “zombie cells” have been shown to treat the underlying cause of chronic low back pain. The condition affects millions of people worldwide. https://t.co/UxHH3bMGkQ
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
Metanalysis suggests MTX may be effective in knee OA. 6RCTs, 602 pts of MTX vs PBO, showed MTX significantly relieved pain (mean diff −0.44; P 0.0003) knee/hand OA; Functional improved for knee only, but no differences in quality-of-life outcome or adverse events https://t.co/lmBEnTLFHY
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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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Retrospective study of 334 children with non-organic amplified MSK pain syndr(AMPS) plus back pain. Pts w/ localized AMPS were more likely to have a (+) straight leg raising test (P 0.01) & diffuse AMPS more likely to have allodynia & incongruent affect (reporting pain, but still https://t.co/unbub6VK0t
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
back, LBP, spine, AS

Senescent "Zombie" Cells and Low Back Pain

EurekAlert!

In a preclinical study led by McGill University researchers, two drugs targeting “zombie cells” have been shown to treat the underlying cause of chronic low back pain. The condition affects millions of

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Genomics and Future Drug Targets for Osteoarthritis

EurekAlert!

A Nature article details the results of an osteoarthritis, genome-wide association study meta-analyses across up to 489,975 cases and 1,472,094 controls, establishing 962 independent associations, 513 of which have not been previously reported. Results were published this week in the journal

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ACP: Best Practice Advice on Cannabis or Cannabinoids Use for Chronic Noncancer Pain The American College of Physicians published a best practice advisory on cannabis or cannabinoids in the Annals of Internal Medicine. https://t.co/B0eWstjN0Z https://t.co/IzSEIeosme

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2nd Opinions in Rheumatology https://t.co/R4CjJHEaL4 https://t.co/0quDwdANyU

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EMR Messaging Woes (4.11.2025)

Jack Cush, MD

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports and regulatory approvals from this past week on RheumNow.com

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Mindfulness and CBT improve chronic low back pain Behavioral interventions were associated with reduced pain and daily opioid use and improved function and quality of life for up to 12 months among adults with opioid-treated chronic low back pain, according to a new randomized https://t.co/e4jLNwNBy3
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12-month community trial 770 adults w/ opioid-treated chronic low back pain (CLBP). Found that opioid dosage decreased with both mindfulness-based therapy & cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) at 6 & 12 mos.(noninferior) - Why dont we use these? https://t.co/9VhqJEHlhc https://t.co/GWnL66nbvY

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Weed, THC

ACP: Best Practice Advice on Cannabis or Cannabinoids Use for Chronic Noncancer Pain

Jack Cush, MD

The American College of Physicians published a best practice advisory on cannabis or cannabinoids in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

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yoga, mindfulness

Mindfulness and CBT improve chronic low back pain

EurekAlert!

Behavioral interventions were associated with reduced pain and daily opioid use and improved function and quality of life for up to 12 months among adults with opioid-treated chronic low back pain, according to a new randomized clinical trial.

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Consensus Against Interventional Injections for Chronic Spinal Pain BMJ has published a clinical practice guideline resulting from the work of an international, multidisciplinary panel addressing chronic spine pain (≥3 months duration) not associated with cancer or https://t.co/mCsz88JACh
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NIH Complimentary Medicine overview of Music Therapy - preliminary research suggests that music interventions may be helpful for anxiety, depression, pain control, dementia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, etc https://t.co/UGsfT7lITQ https://t.co/DrJm4JdEuY

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Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Fibromyalgia A randomized, sham-controlled trial has shown that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) reduced pain in fibromyalgia for up to 8 weeks; while analgesic effects waned, functional improvements remained https://t.co/nJdSrUcizo
Dr. John Cush @RheumNow( View Tweet )
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Consensus Against Interventional Injections for Chronic Spinal Pain

Jack Cush, MD

BMJ has published a clinical practice guideline resulting from the work of an international, multidisciplinary panel addressing chronic spine pain (≥3 months duration) not associated with cancer or inflammatory arthropathy. This is a chronic (not acute) spine pain

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Rheums! Have a rheumatology question or case for Dr.Cush? Record it here and we may feature it on an upcoming podcast. Tell us your name and where you practice rheumatology. https://t.co/VkPL7thzo8 https://t.co/h85iF6tIVk

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Cancer Survival with TNF Inhibitors (3.28.2025)

Jack Cush, MD

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com

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Transcranial_magnetic_stimulation

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Fibromyalgia

Jack Cush, MD

A randomized, sham-controlled trial has shown that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) reduced pain in fibromyalgia for up to 8 weeks; while analgesic effects waned, functional improvements remained during extended maintenance at week 16.

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Peripheral Nerve Blocks for Hip Fractures JAMA reviews the use of peripheral nerve block with hip fractures as an effective pain management strategy that can be performed by credentialed clinicians outside of the operating room. https://t.co/baeLWVxeUo https://t.co/ZBTVDT0jGR

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Recent Blogs

From the Archives: Rheumatology Dead Word Cemetery

Jack Cush, MD
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I recently heard of a secondary school assignment wherein students were challenged to “bury” a word that was no longer useful or appropriate. Their exercise has now evolved into an unofficial RheumNow task force to retire diagnostic terms that have grown into misuse in rheumatology and medicine. How did we decide which words should perish? And by what criteria? Who has the final say? Read Post

Pain in Psoriatic Arthritis

Philip Mease, MD
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Pain is typically ranked by both patients and physicians as the most important symptom of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) to assess and treat. Although the predominant concept of the etiology of pain in PsA is that of inflammation in peripheral joints, entheses, and bone signaling through peripheral nociceptive fibers, perceived as pain in the central nervous system, it is actually more complex than that. The ability of a treatment to ameliorate pain is one of the principle measures of its effectiveness. Thus pain improvement or worsening are key determinants of shared decision making about treatment in PsA.  Read Post
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