Articles By Jack Cush, MD
Liver Disease Increased in Psoriasis
An observational case-control study has shown that psoriasis is associated with an increased prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
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IL-23 Inhibitor Fails in Ankylosing Spondylitis
A study of the IL-23 risankizumab in active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients failed to show efficacy and did not meet primary efficacy endpoints in a 6-month trial.
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Obesity, Hypertension and Diuretics Drive Gout Risk
A recent metanalysis suggests that obesity, hypertension and diuretic use are associated with a two-fold increased risk of incident gout. From a potential of 9923 articles, researchers analyzed 11 studies with data suitable for the meta-analysis.
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Hydroxychloroquine Being Over-Dosed with New Guidelines?
Hydroxychloroquine retinopathy prevention guidelines have revised from ideal body weight-based dosing to actual body weight-based dosing; the question remains whether these have been adopted in clinical practice. A database of nearly 21,000 new HCQ users from a UK general population database studied HCQ dosing and use between 2007 and 2016. Specifically they examined whether users were subjected to excess HCQ dosing per ophthalmology guidelines (defined by exceeding 6.5 mg/kg of IBW and 5.0 mg/kg of ABW).
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Best of 2017: Across the Table: Cush & Erkan on Antiphospholipid Syndrome
The antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a common disorder affecting patients with and without autoimmune disease. Despite wider recognition of APS among physicians as well as the expanding research collaborations, many clinical questions are still encountered in clinical practice, which require further evidence-based studies. In this “Across the Table” edition, Drs. Cush and Erkan discuss some of these APS-related questions. Our guest expert, Dr. Doruk Erkan offers up his approach to diagnosis and management of APS.
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Best of 2017: Cause of Death in Ankylosing Spondylitis
A French population based study of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) was report in the Journal of Rheumatology. They analyzed the death certificates and cause of death in 2940 AS patients over 3 different decades (1969-78; 1979-99; 2000-2009).
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Best of 2017: Death Rates from Lupus Remain Disproportionately High
The Annals of Internal Medicine reports that despite improving trends in mortality, death rates from systematic lupus erythematosus (lupus) remain high compared to those in the general population, and disparities persist between subpopulations and geographic regions. Underreporting of lupus on death certificates may have resulted in underestimates of mortality rates.
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Best of 2017: Are ANA Tests Unreliable?
Pisetsky and colleagues have reported in the Annals of Rheumatic Disease that ANA tests done on established SLE patients may yield surprisingly disparate results.While ANA negative lupus was a problem of old assays and the loss of ANA positivity may be seen with chronicity or age, most rheumatologists believe that ANA positivity is an absolute requirement for the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus.
Read ArticleBest of 2017: Rules for Drug Cessation with Infection
Everyone gets their education about drug-related infection risk from television ads. Rheumatologists should know what the real risks are and educate their patients that they have a higher than normal rate of nonserious infections. But the infection risk is way more related to inflammation than any specific drug risk.
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Best of 2017: New EULAR Guidelines on Behçet's
At the EULAR 2016 meeting, new EULAR recommendations for the management of Behçet's disease (BD) were presented.
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