Rheumatoid Arthritis

? value of FamHx in Rheum evals? My bias is that few Dz are heritable - #Ank Spondylitis, #gout, DIP Osteoarthritis! But literature says there's high heritability for SLE, RA, systemic sclerosis, Sjögren's, & autoimmune endocrinopathies. WHAT do you think? https://t.co/WGyQqpY1qX

Can DMARD Doses Be Safely Reduced for RA Patients? Close to 90% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) well controlled on targeted therapies were able to take 50% dosage reductions without experiencing worsened disease activity in a randomized trial, South Korean https://t.co/GGPOBhVhJe

Not all Low Dz Activity RA pts do the same. COREVITAS study of 6,856 RA pts w/ baseline CDAI 0-10. Comparing very low LDA (2.8-6: ~19.6%) vs high LDA >6-10 (31%);latter were twice as likely to have CDAI moderate Dz activity at 1 and 2 years https://t.co/mmc1wzJXWY https://t.co/5CotYBn0Zb

The range of Clinical Disease Activity (CDAI) Low Disease Activity (LDA) at bas…

In early RA, initial b/tsDMARDs are better than MTX. Metanalysis of 29 RCTs (13387 pts), Vs MTX alone, initial b/tsDMARDs + MTX signif incr DAS28 remission 2 6 mos (RR 1.62) & 12 mos (RR 1.54). Benefits greater w/ higher baseline Dz, seropositivity https://t.co/exwVOc08xR https://t.co/Zcl62rxxJk

First-line biologic and targeted synthetic DMARDs versus methotrexate in early …

T-cell engager blinatumomab (CD3xCD19 TCE) was used for Deep B-cell depletion in 15 resistant RA pts (MDR-RA). @wk 12 9/15 CDAI LDA, 3/15 CDAI remission. Synovial B cells were depleted (4 of 5 biopsies) but not in lymph nodes. Later, 14/15 flared. No ICANs, 3/15 w/ CRS (gr 1) https://t.co/xLGZjkMmit

Retrospective Kuwait registry study of 2629 RA pts- 2326 (88.5%) w/ early (EORA) vs 303 (11.5%) late(LORA). LORA had more age related comorb. Dz (2 vs. 0.9), similar DAS28/CDA, but signif higher ESR (41 vs 33). T2T applies regardless of age!! https://t.co/MK8SfjcxCA https://t.co/ZxHwt8qxvT

Frontiers | Late-onset versus young-onset rheumatoid arthritis: comorbidities, …

Article

Don’t Hold the JAK (10.9.2026)

Jack Cush, MD Oct 09, 2026

On this week's podcast, Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news: Steroids are easy to start and hard to stop; hold the MTX but not the biologic or JAK, weighing in on avacopan, and age-old messages for old-age patients.

Article

Can DMARD Doses Be Safely Reduced for RA Patients?

MedPage Today Oct 08, 2026

Close to 90% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) well controlled on targeted therapies were able to take 50% dosage reductions without experiencing worsened disease activity in a randomized trial, South Korean researchers said.

Upadacitinib is now approved in European Union to treat active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA) ages > 2yrs for those not responding to 1+ DMARDs. In the USA, UPA is approved for pJIA & juvenile PsA https://t.co/Vhx717rw5T https://t.co/hObov1Umgb

AbbVie Announces European Commission Approval of RINVOQ® (upadacitinib) for the…

Remission — believe it or not. What’s happening in rheumatology this week? Dr. Jack Cush breaks down the latest news and journal reports on RheumNow: 10-year T2T data: 82% in remission Residual steroids don’t preserve remission Biologics linked to lower PsA risk GLP-1s + knee OA https://t.co/2Zf9g1Wehg

The GLP-1 Opportunity Cost in Rheumatology There is no doubt it is an incredibly exciting time to be tackling obesity-related diseases, like many rheumatic diseases appear to be, to some extent. https://t.co/49EscdPOTG https://t.co/c0kSgOXZy7

The GLP-1 Opportunity Cost in Rheumatology | RheumNow

The weight is off, the DMARDs are off - now what? Sometimes it’s only when we have effective solutions that we have to think about what to do next. And when that happens, remember why we do things in the first place. In an era when weight loss is happening on scale, now we need https://t.co/MTjU5YRS5q

Article

Remission – Believe it or Not (10.2.2026)

Jack Cush, MD Oct 02, 2026

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

ARthritis & CAncer (ARCA) is Spanish retro study of 728 #RA pts w/ Hx of CA & Rx w/ biologics. W/ F/U of 11 022 yrs, new/recurrent CA was not incr (7.3/1000PYs) & = Pts Rx w/ csDMARDs (HRs 0.94; 0.73,1.21) & not incr w/ TNFi (0.94), IL-6i (1.03), CD20i (0.81), JAKi (0.6), ABA https://t.co/UUWlsaYV0Z

Mediterranean Diet Lowers Incident Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has published the results of the SUN Project study, showing that long-term adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) was associated with a substantially lower risk of https://t.co/9GhEwXuCEI

Lifestyle and Incretin Therapy Advice for Rheumatologists As GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists become standard co-management tools for obese patients with RA, PsA, axSpA, and gout, this JAMA Insights perspective by Kushner, et al. reframes lifestyle counseling as an adjunct to https://t.co/9dfmKLuJF7

Systematic review of 21 papers (23K RA pts) finds 12% w/ difficult-to-treat RA. Risk factors -- smoking (OR 1·16), obesity (1·38), FM (2·20) & depression (1·74). No assoc w/ current smoking or anxiety. https://t.co/BHxyEbSg8Y

Associated lifestyle factors and comorbidities of difficult-to-treat rheumatoid…

AbbVie Announces European Commission Approval of RINVOQ® (upadacitinib) for the…

Article

The weight is off, the DMARDs are off - now what?

David Liew, FRACP Sep 29, 2026

That promised land of substantive weight loss comes within it the illusion of better disease control and, for inflammatory arthritis patients, the possibility of reducing the burden of regular medicines - often driven by the patient, with or without telling you. It is a dream worth aspiring to

Long-term F/U of T2T Artic trial. 230 DMARD naive pts, 84% ACPA+ 179 (82%) in 10 yr F/U & 82% were in DAS < 1.6 remission 10 yrs later w/ only 17% w/ Xray progression. ~50% on csDMARDs, 30% on bDMARDs. Early aggressive works! https://t.co/ASRrIZqfS5 https://t.co/SykEI4QjPa

https://buff.ly/BuXeK3h

Article

Mediterranean Diet Lowers Incident Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk

Jack Cush, MD Sep 28, 2026

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has published the results of the SUN Project study, showing that long-term adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) was associated with a substantially lower risk of incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but not psoriasis.

Residual steroids doesnt preserve remission. Japan FRANK #RA registry 411/3,863 were in Boolean remission - 130 on GC vs 231 non-GC (1/3 on b/tsDMARDs). Roughly 1/3 flared to LDA @12 mos. Outcomes same for GC vs non-GC Rx pts. https://t.co/xPctEjFCLT https://t.co/YIHFaQkzeO

https://buff.ly/ZPnGGqf

Obesity and Psoriatic Disease Obesity is a clinically important comorbidity in psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Excess adiposity contributes to systemic inflammation and cardiometabolic risk and may adversely affect disease severity and response to some systemic https://t.co/WVIqfq8vEj

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/I4mITEqBI6

Diagnostic accuracy of lung ultrasound for the detection of interstitial lung d…

Therapeutic Updates

Make Rheum for Rads: Autoimmune ILD Diagnosis, Monitoring, and the Patient Experience

Sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Aug 01, 2026

Drs. Elizabeth Volkmann and Robert Suh explore the roles rheumatologists and radiologists play in diagnosing and monitoring autoimmune ILD and hear from a patient about her experience.

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A JAKi After TNFi Failure in RA: SELECT-SWITCH at Week 12

Sponsored by AbbVie Medical Affairs + Health Impact

Aug 01, 2026

Dr. Christina Charles-Schoeman and Dr. Manish Jain are back to discuss treatment considerations after TNFi failure in RA. Join them as they review the latest data from SELECT-SWITCH, including post hoc results in primary and secondary nonresponders presented at EULAR 2026.

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Expert insights on the 2024 ACR Guideline recommendations for lupus nephritis

Recent Blogs

Treatment for Obesity and Inflammation, but at what Cost?
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Jonathan Kay, MD

Sep 29, 2026

The costs of GLP-1 agonists must come down in order to make these treatments available to the people who need them - including many people with rheumatologic diseases.

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Obesity in Rheumatic Diseases: More than just a Comorbidity
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Marina Magrey, MD

Sep 15, 2026

A few years ago, when I would see a patient with rheumatic disease and increased BMI, I would often document it as obesity as a comorbidity, recommend weight loss and exercise, and then move on. My approach has changed.

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