Articles By Jack Cush, MD
Sildenafil May Help Heal Scleroderma Ulcers
A prospective study of sildenafil was conducted in 25 centers that included 83 patients and 192 digital ulcers at entry. The odds of healing ulcers was less, but not significant, for sildenafil.
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RA Sarilumab Trials Meet Primary Endpoints
Three phase III studies of sarilumab (SARIL-RA-TARGET, -EASY and -ASCERTAIN), a fully-human IL6 receptor antibody, have been reported and met primary end points in these pivotal clinical trials.
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Inflammatory Fibromyalgia - Is it Possible?
Fibromyalgia is a noninflammatory disorder. However, there are patients with prolonged morning stiffness, subjective joint swelling and many with modest-to-moderate elevations of acute-phase reactants.
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Underuse & Overuse of DXA Screening
A US Preventive Services Task Force recommends DEXA screening in women >65 yrs and only in women 65 yrs if there is a significan risk of fracture. Amarnath and coworkers studied 50,995 women in primary care, aged 40-85 years, between 2006-2012.
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Amgen & Abbvie Increase the Price of TNF Inhibitors
The manufacturers of the 2 best selling TNF inhibitors, Enbrel and Humira, have announced a 9.9% price increase of May 1st. The current average price of Enbrel is $42,000 per annum.
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The Real Prevalence of Sjogren's Syndrome
The population prevalence of Sjogrens syndrome is 0.2%, with an incidence of 4 cases per 100,000 per year. Sjogrens is 20 times more common in females than males.
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A Microneedle Pill as an Alternative to Injectable Drug
Carl Schoellhammerhas just won the Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Student Prize for his invention - the microneedle pill.
Read ArticleRheumatology Pearls from Twitter - Really?
To many of my colleagues (admitted Luddites) the mere mention of Twitter results in the “omi-god 360” eye roll with an accompanying snide comment.
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Sjogrens Syndrome and Familial Risk
A population based study from Taiwan shows that Sjogren's syndrome, to have a prevalence of 0.05%. The prevalence of the syndrome, however, was 10 times higher among women (0.10%) compared to men (0.01%). Overall, having an affected first-degree relative with Sjogren's syndrome carried
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