Articles By Jack Cush, MD
ICYMI: Anti-inflammatory Diet Control of Rheumatoid Arthritis
The TOMORROW study assessed the relationship between diet and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and has shown that RA patients are more likely to have higher inflammatory diets, but that a change to an anti-inflammatory diet resulted in lower disease activity s
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ICYMI: 2020 Rheumatology Year in Review
2020 was historic, memorable and game-changing. Under the cloud of COVID-19, there were many significant and memorable advances and setbacks for the rheumatology world. In our accounting of most read articles for 2020, (not surprisingly) 17/20 were COVID-related.
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ICYMI: EULAR Guidelines on Intraarticular Therapy
EULAR has published evidence-based recommendations on the use of intra-articular therapies (IAT) based on the literature review and recommendations of a multidisciplinary international task force. These IAT recommendations apply to adult patients with peripheral arthropathies.
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ICYMI: Rheumatologists Rank 2nd in Physician Burnout
The 2021 Medscape Survey on Physician burnout ranks rheumatology second, just behind Critical Care medicine. The survey included over 12,000 physcians from 20 specialties. While 42% of MDs claimed to be burnt-out, Rheumatologists claimed this 50% of the time. The top 3 this year were Critical care (51%), Rheumatology (50%) and infectious disease (49%).
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ICYMI: Actemra FDA Approved for Systemic Sclerosis Interstitial Lung Disease
Genentech announced Thursday that the US Food and Drug Administration approved tocilizumab (Actemra) for the treatment of Systemic Sclerosis-associated Interstitial Lung Disease (SSc-ILD), specifically indicated for slowing the rate of decline in pulmonary function in adul
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ICYMI: Cardiac and Cancer Signals Tofacitinib Safety Alert from FDA
The FDA has notified healthcare professionals of a safety alert concerning tofacitinib (Xeljanz), noting that preliminary results from a long-term safety clinical trial show an increased risk of serious heart-related problems and cancer with tofacitinib (compared to adalimumab) when given to at-risk rheumatoid arthritis patients. These findings are in addition to the thrombotic risks (added to the label), potential risks including blood clots in the lungs and death.
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RheumNow Podcast – As Good As I Ever Was (7.2.2021)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com.
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Gender Trends in Rheumatology
A study of rheumatologists in Ontario, Canada has shown an increasing percentage of women in rheumatology; unfortunately they have lower salaries but see fewer patients than do their older, male colleagues.
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Neuropsychiatric Events Common in Lupus
Neuropsychiatric (NP-SLE) or CNS lupus events range from mild to severe; several recent studies have noted that NPS lupus is common and should be screened for. A metanalysis of the literature finds 22 studies wherein the mean frequency of NPSLE ranged from 10.6% to 96.4%. When researchers with the Swiss SLE cohort study looked at their population, NPSLE was found in 28.1%. This included cerebrovascular insults, seizures and psychosis.
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The Potential of Rituximab Efficacy in Systemic Sclerosis
Rituximab (RTX) has been in the news a lot lately; more surprisingly for its potential benefits in progressive systemic sclerosis (SSc). Ebata and colleagues have published the results of a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial comparing intravenous RTX to placebo in 56 SSc patients. Patients had to have a modified Rodnan Skin Score (mRSS) of 10 or more. The primary endpoint was the change in mRSS at 24 weeks.
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