Articles By Jack Cush, MD
TNF Inhibition and Heart Failure
Clinicians often face the issue of using a TNF inhibitor (TNFi) in patients with heart failure or cardiac disease. Here are the facts and data necessary to make a cogent decision to use or avoid TNFi.
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Early Aggressive Treatment of Elderly RA Results in Less Joint Surgery
Two population-based cohorts from Ontario (ON) and Quebec (QC) were used to assess if early DMARD influenced the need for joint replacement surgery among elderly patients with incident rheumatoid arthritis.
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Less Treatment, Responses and Safety in Elder-Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis
A recent review compared elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis (EORA) to those with younger-onset rheumatoid arthritis (YORA) to assess treatment responses and safety issues with biologics and DMARDS. EORA is generally defined as the onset of rheumatoid arthritis after age 60 years.
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Zika Virus May Cause Guillain-Barré Syndrome
The spectrum and extent of the Zika virus is still evolving. Lancet has reported 42 patients diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) during the Zika virus outbreak in French Polynesia.
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Subclinical Synovitis in Psoriasis Portends Future Psoriatic Arthritis
It is estimated that nearly 30% of psoriasis patients will develop psoriatic arthritis (PsA). This prevalence was studied by performing MRI scans on asymptomatic psoriasis (n=56) and 30 control patients without arthritis.
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Tools, Brains & Organizers for Your Phone
Most people can’t live without their cell phone. But does the device define the modern medicine man and woman?
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Rheumatoid Arthritis Alone is Not a Risk for Post-Op CV Events
Using hospitalization claims from 7 states, reasearchers studied the risk of cardiovascular outcomes following surgery in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. (Citation source http://buff.ly/1TDsVG6)
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New Classification Criteria for Macrophage Activation Syndrome
Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SoJIA) is one of the most common underlying etiologies to the macrophage activation syndrome (MAS).
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Cell Phone Study Proves Car Crash Risk
In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers enrolled over 3,500 U.S. drivers, aged 16 to 98 years, and followed them for a three-year period after rigging their vehicles with internal video cameras and devices to track speed and location.
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Diabolical Negativism
Our inner thoughts are usually negative, critical or pessimistic. Negative thinking is ubiquitous, and may be responsible for indecision or ill-choices. How to identify it and deal with it in patient care is an unsavory challenge often left undone.
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