Articles By Jack Cush, MD
Should You Use Low Dose Naltrexone?
There's this low grade buzz from some rheumatologists about the potential analgesic benefits of low dose naltrexone. I haven't used it. Should you?
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Lancet: A Public Health Policy Call Out for Osteoarthritis
In honor of World Arthritis Day (Oct. 12th), The Lancet has published a public Health Policy report is to "outline a globally relevant roadmap to address the osteoarthritis identity problem, focusing on health policy responses."
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Surgery for 1st MTP Osteoarthritis
Hallux rigidus, or osteoarthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ), is common, but the treatment options and future outcomes are poorly known.
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Don’t Hold the JAK (10.9.2026)
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.
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Don't Hold the Biologic or JAK with COVID-19 Vaccination
A randomized clinical trial in inflammatory arthritis arthritis shows that temporarily holding biologic or Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor therapy at the time of COVID-19 vaccination is not warranted.
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Predicting and Preventing Psoriatic Arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis is often underdiagnosed in those with psoriasis (PsO), leading to diagnostic delays an undertreatment.
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POETYK PsA-1 - Efficacy and Safety of Deucravacitinib in Psoriatic Arthritis
van der Heijde et al have published the results of the phase 3 POETYK PsA-1 trial demonstrating that deucravacitinib was superior to placebo in clinical responses, patient-reported outcomes, and structural damage inhibition in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
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Exercise Can Improve Pain
This pooled meta-analyses (n=197,392) shows that exercise reduced pain versus control immediately after the intervention (SMD −0.59; 95% CI −0.65 to −0.53; P0.001). The benefit held across musculoskeletal, inflammatory, neurologic and cancer pain, and for every modality tested.
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Triple Hormone Receptor Agonist for Treatment of Obesity and Knee Osteoarthritis
The NEJM reports that retatrutide, an investigational incretin agent, was shown to yield up to 25% weight reduction, with subanalyses also showing reduced pain with knee osteoarthritis, and less apnea–hypopnea events in participants with obstructive sleep apnea.
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Remission – Believe it or Not (10.2.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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