Articles By Jack Cush, MD
Arrhythmias in Autoimmune Rheumatic Disease
A new review in the Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease (Tamirisa et al) synthesizes how systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic sclerosis have an increased risk of arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death attributable to shared immune pathways.
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JAMA Review of Hip Fracture
The July 16th edition of JAMA reviews the highly prevalent problem of hip fractures - a major global health burden: 14.2 million occur worldwide annually (280,000 in the US), with global incidence higher in women (833.9/100,000) than men (510.0/100,000). Lifetime risk at age 50 is 22.9% for women, 10.7% for men. Mortality is substantial.
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Methotrexate Safety Tips (7.31.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from this past week on RheumNow.com.
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Four Decades of Gout Management
During this month-long campaign on Gout, we have documented many significant changes in our approach to gout, as well as many unmet needs and deficiencies that merit our continued, primary attention. We are all familiar with the famous 1905 quote, “Those who cannot remember the past are
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$2 Million in Research Grants for Juvenile Arthritis
July is Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month, and while many people think of arthritis as a disease of aging, nearly 300,000 children in the U.S. are living with a rheumatic disease.
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Genetic Risk Loci in Fibromyalgia
Researchers examined genetic data drawn from 11 different worldwide cohorts, that included from more than 2.5 million adults, of which 55,000 had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. They identified DNA sequence variants in 26 regions of the genome that affect the risk of developing fibromyalgia. Many of the genes implicated in these regions are involved in brain and nerve function. This is the largest fibromyalgia GWAS to date.
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Uricase-Targeted Therapies in Gout
In most mammals, uricase catalyzes the oxidation of uric acid to allantoin, a highly soluble compound easily excreted by the kidneys. But humans lack functional uricase, leaving xanthine oxidase inhibitors (allopurinol/febuxostat) as first-line urate-lowering therapy (ULT). Uricase-based biologics are reserved for uncontrolled/refractory gout patients with gouty flares, active synovitis, and/or non-resolving tophi despite optimized oral ULT.
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The Wider Implications of Dactylitis
Dactylitis, AKA the "sausage digit", is a hallmark of psoriatic arthritis (PsA), but as Possemato and colleagues point out, it is fundamentally a clinical sign, and not a diagnosis. This review article discusses the wider implications of dactylitis in rheumatology and medicine underscores the diagnostic and prognostic significance of this manifestation.
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Chikungunya Club Meeting (7.24.2026)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Interferon-α as an Immunologic Driver of Sjögren's Disease
Using data from a Sjogren's registry, researchers have shown that IFNα drives Sjögren's disease, and can be
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