Articles By Jack Cush, MD
Disparities in Lupus Survival
MMWR has published the outcomes from the Georgia Lupus Registry between 2002 and 2016, finding that black women were not only more likely to die from lupus than white lupus patients; but they died on average 13 years earlier (mean age 51.8 and 52.3 years, respectively) than whites (mean age 64.4 and 65.0 years, respectively). Black women with lupus were 3.34 times more likely to die than black women in the general population, while white women with lupus were 2.43 times more likely to die than white women in the general population. None of the white women with lupus died within 5 years of diagnosis, while mortality was elevated for black women from the date of diagnosis on.
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ACP Supports Transparency of Health Care Costs
The American College of Physicians (ACP) is encouraged by the Trump administration’s executive order to improve transparency of health care costs.
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DMARD Success in Myositis-Related Interstitial Lung Disease
It is estimated that up to 50% of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy will be complicated by interstitial lung disease, and having ILD may impart a poor prognosis. A recent review of the Johns Hopkins myositis-related ILD cohort has shown that azathioprine and mycophenolate mofetil use is associated improved lung function and less prednisone use.
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Steroids in GCA and PMR Increase Infectious Risk
A large study of UK family practice patients shows that polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) or giant cell arteritis (GCA) patients treated with glucocorticoids are at an increased risk of bacterial, viral, parasitic and fungal infection, even at daily doses of less than 5 mg prednisolone.
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RheumNow Podcast – Late Breaking Abstract Wrap-Up (6.21.19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the week’s news and wrap up from EULAR19.
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EULAR 2019 - Podcast #1
This EULAR 2019 Podcast is a compilation of audio clips from EULAR 2019 in Madrid. Click HERE to listen.
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No Difference Among Biologics in Arthroplasty Infectious Risk
A large administrative claims analysis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients undergoing arthroplasty has shown no difference among biologics with regard to the risk of infections, but corticosteroid use was associated with a dose dependent risk of infection.
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Allopurinol Fails to Curtail Hypertension
A novel trial presented at EULAR 2019 last week assessed whether the use of urate-lowering therapy (ULT) would control hypertension in those at risk; however, results of this trial were largely negative. Hypertension is one of the many comorbidities that plagues gout patients.
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ACP Guidelines on Developing Evidence Based Clinical Guidelines
Recommendations for the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of various diseases often differ by organization, making it difficult to know which ones to follow.
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Borrelia burgdorferi Peptidoglycan Shedding Drives Lyme Arthritis
Research published in PNAS has shown that long after active Lyme infection in the joint, a peptidoglycan (PG) of the the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi can be found in the joints of those with late-stage Lyme disease.
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