Articles By Jack Cush, MD
No Link Between Autoimmune Diseases and Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance
Annals of Internal Medicine reports a study of more than 75,000 persons screened for monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and found no association between autoimmune rheumatic disease (AIRD) and MGUS.
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SLE Cost of Care and Disease Activity
A longitudinal, multinational study shows that SLE patients achieving remission or low disease activity incur lower overall direct/indirect (DCs, ICs) healthcare costs than those with persistent activity.
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Upside/Downside of Steroids in Lupus Nephritis
A systematic review of randomized clinical trials of patients with biopsy-proven lupus nephritis (LN) demonstrates both the benefits and harms to early glucocorticoid (GC) regimens on lupus outcomes.
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"Don't You Know Who I am?" (5.17.2024)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past 2 weeks. This week's question: can we prevent gout, ILD or psoriasis?
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Legal (Not So) Merry-Go-Round of Alendronate Atypical Fractures
Dr. Gregory Curfman, MD (Executive editor of JAMA) writes on the chronological legal progress of a lawsuit stemming from rare instances of atypical femoral fractures associated with bisphosphonate (alendronate) use.
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Consensus Statements on Vitamin D
The “Controversies in Vitamin D” International Conference has published their proceedings on vitamin D metabolism, assessment, actions, and supplementation. Interestingly, optimal levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) are still being debated.
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Infectious Mortality in Autoimmune Rheumatic Disorders
Infectious conditions are a significant cause of mortality in autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD). Among patients hospitalized with an infection, we compared in-hospital and long-term (3-year) mortality between those with and without ARD.
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Small-molecule Drugs to Treat Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
A metanalysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on treatments of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), confirm the efficacy of several targeted small-molecule drugs.
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Risk Factors for Hydroxychloroquine Retinopathy
A long-term hydroxychloroquine users study found that 2.7% developed retinopathy, and identified risk factors as increasing age, female sex, chronic kidney disease stage 3+ and tamoxifen use.
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RECIPE Study: Non-opioid Analgesics following Total Hip Arthroplasty
Patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty using a combination of paracetamol, ibuprofen, and dexamethasone, had optimal responses with the lowest morphine consumption, and fewer adverse events.
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