Articles By Jack Cush, MD
Forced, Rational or Glitch-Ridden Prescribing Practices
A recent analysis of 3 groups of treatment-naïve, early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) patients looked at the factors that influenced the choice of therapy.
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Withdrawal of TNF Inibitors Fails in Most RA Patients
The 12 month POET study analyzed 817 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who achieved remission or low disease activity (LDAS) for ≥6 months and then randomized 2:1 to stopping or continuing their TNF inhibitor.
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Alendronate Use in Steroid Treated Patients Lowers the Risk of Hip Fracture
Among older patients using medium to high doses of the anti-inflammatory steroid prednisolone, treatment with the osteoporosis drug alendronate was associated with a significantly lower risk of hip fracture, according to a study published by JAMA.
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Managing Secondary Non-Response to Rituximab in Lupus
Rituximab, a chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, has been effectively used in the treatment of multiple autoimmune disorders for over two decades. But the response to rituximab has been shown to not be as effective in SLE as it is in RA.
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Pharma Pays $8.2 Billion to Physicians in 2016
Data made public by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shows that drug and device makers made nearly $8.2 billion in payments to U.S. physicians and teaching hospitals in the last year. Since 2013, CMS has been tracking physician payments as part of the Affordable Care Act.
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Orencia Approved for Use in Psoriatic Arthritis
The FDA has approved both IV and SC ORENCIA (abatacept) for the treatment of adults with active Psoriatic Arthritis.
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The RheumNow Week in Review – 30 June 2017
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from the past week on RheumNow.com:
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Rheumatologist's Vacation Checklist
Nearly half of all available vacation days go unused and over 40% of Americans failed to use any vacation days in 2015. Common sense says that taking more time off (not less) is likely to lead to increased work productivity. Your next vacation is essential to building a better you. Here are some tips to insure you get the most from your time off.
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Linkage Between Gut and Joint Immunity in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Pianta, et al have published their findings in the Journal of Clinical Investigation showing that two novel autoantigens, GNS and FLNA, are highly expressed in synovium and share a sequence homology with gut microbesa; thereby providing a potential link between gut mucosal and joint immunity in rheumatoid arthritis.
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Potential Reasons Why Osteoarthritis Preferentially Affects Women
Researchers from Augusta University have examined exosomes from patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) to enhance our molecular understanding of the pathogenesis of OA. (Citation source http://buff.ly/2tuDZ3v)
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