Healio Rheuminations
Rheumatology is an incredibly fast-moving and exciting field of medicine that can be difficult to keep up with. This Healio podcast provides busy clinicians with quick updates in the field of autoimmunity, with emphasis on new medications, treatment guidelines and explorations into the pathophysiology of diseases. The show will also feature historical perspectives in the field of rheumatology, as well as fascinating case presentations of medical mysteries complete with discussions from experts in the field.
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ILD for the rheumatologist: Digging through the past and making sense of the present
03/24/2026
ILD for the rheumatologist: Digging through the past and making sense of the present
In this week’s episode we interview Joseph Parambil, MD, staff member in the department of pulmonary, allergy and critical care medicine at Cleveland Clinic, about the current challenges of interstitial lung disease, or ILD. · Intro by Adam J. Brown, MD 0:12 · Welcome back Joseph Parambil, MD 0:32 · But first, some medical history on ILD 1:04 · ILD vs. IPF 2:26 · A quick aside into silicosis and bleomycin 4:27 · Trying to describe pulmonary fibrosis 5:23 · The different types of ILD 9:44 · Finding a slow progression of disease and autoimmune conditions 10:59 · Pulmonary fibrosis diagnoses in 1963 14:41 · The modern era of ILD 16:22 · Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia 20:12 · Handing things over to Dr. Parambil 23:01 · Helping rheumatologists understand ILD/The alphabet soup 24:34 · The shift from biopsies and using immunosuppression 33:07 · Is the workup similar for UIP and NSIP? 35:26 · Is there a standard protocol for workup in terms of serologies? 36:30 · The danger of choosing the wrong treatment 38:43 · Immunosuppression in patients with pulmonary hypertension and ILD 40:52 · UIP and ANCA vasculitis 42:12 · Compared to ten years ago, how are we doing with treatments? 43:10 · Where are we with lung transplants? 50:49 · Looking at hematopoietic stem cell transplants 53:24 · The importance of early diagnosis 54:14 · Antifibrotic medicines 56:15 · Chronic and acute interstitial lung diseases 58:41 · Thank you, Dr. Parambil 1:03:54 · A conclusion from Dr. Brown 1:04:20 · Thank you for listening 1:04:55 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . Joseph Parambil, MD, is a staff member in the Respiratory Institute and the director of the HHT Center of Excellence and the Vascular Anomalies Center at the Cleveland Clinic. He is associate professor of medicine at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner College of Medicine. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine with additional specialty certification in pulmonary medicine and critical care medicine. References: Liebow A, et al. : “Frontiers of Pulmonary Radiology.” The interstitial pneumonias, pp. 102-141. 1969. Grune & Stratton. Disclosures: Brown and Parambil report no relevant financial disclosures.
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Healio Community Book Club: A conversation between Leonard Calabrese, DO and Kevin Tracey, MD, author of The Great Nerve
02/24/2026
Healio Community Book Club: A conversation between Leonard Calabrese, DO and Kevin Tracey, MD, author of The Great Nerve
This special edition episode features the latest installment of Healio Community’s book club. Physician author Kevin J. Tracey, MD, discussed his book, The Great Nerve: The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and How to Harness Its Healing Reflexes in which he explores the potential of stimulating the vagus nerve to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases. · Intro by Adam J. Brown, MD 0:14 · A warm welcome from Leonard H. Calabrese, DO 0:25 · Introducing Kevin J. Tracey, MD 0:58 · The connection between the brain and the immune system 3:25 · Where was the switch that combined neural networks and immune response? 5:55 · A brief summary of the main parts of The Great Nerve: The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and How to Harness Its Healing Reflexes 9:18 · The science of vagal nerve stimulation 11:03 · What are the pros and cons of different strategies of stimulating the vagus nerve? 16:28 · Different inflammatory responses to implant devices 17:35 · Data on vagus nerve stimulation 21:38 · Adopting new technology 25:40 · Enhancing immune health through brain health 28:35 · Wellness behaviors 32:55 · A motivated patient 36:16 · Thank you, Dr. Tracey 38:03 · Thanks for listening 39:26 Don’t miss out! To engage in future conversations like this with physician authors on Healio Community, . We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter .
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Celebrating 101 episodes of Healio Rheuminations with Dr. Leonard Calabrese
01/29/2026
Celebrating 101 episodes of Healio Rheuminations with Dr. Leonard Calabrese
To celebrate 101 episodes, I sit with Leonard H. Calabrese, DO, to discuss his unique career in Rheumatology, spanning immunology, HIV, MECFS, IRES, CNS vasculitis and more. We also discuss how medical history shaped our careers. · Intro 0:12 · Welcome Leonard H. Calabrese, DO 3:11 · A quick friendship begins over medical history 4:14 · How Healio Rheuminations began and where the show is now 5:38 · How Dr. Calabrese got interested in medical history 7:11 · Serotherapy 10:52 · Why patients get certain diseases 12:33 · Dr. Calabrese’s career trajectory 14:43 · One day in 1981… 17:52 · A few things happened in the 90’s 20:20 · Tell us about CNS vasculitis 21:53 · Don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself 24:30 · Checkpoint inhibitors 25:09 · How do you keep up? 26:43 · Placebo science 28:25 · Do you think we’ll ever be able to answer where diseases come from? 29:33 · Thank you, Dr. Calabrese 31:01 · Thanks for listening 31:26 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter .
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The history of giant cell arteritis: Infections, injections and the man who couldn't wear a hat
11/25/2025
The history of giant cell arteritis: Infections, injections and the man who couldn't wear a hat
What does a goiter and syphilis have in common with the first descriptions of giant cell arteritis? Join us as we dive into the history of the most common type of vasculitis! Intro 0:13 GCA at ACR 2025 00:30 How Brown has approached framing this episode 1:01 A primer leading us to GCA 3:15 Let’s get to the story 4:02 The man who couldn’t wear a hat 4:57 Dr. Bayard Horton’s 7:40 A tangent on cluster headaches 8:27 Let’s get back to GCA 13:16 The first temporal artery biopsy 14:28 Vision loss and other puzzle pieces of GCA 16:27 What about jaw claudication? 21:15 Could GCA be transmissible? Injecting ground temporal arteries into healthy volunteers 24:13 Oxygen? Histamines? Adrenal cortical extract? Looking for GCA treatments 26:55 Steroids and GCA 28:40 A quote from the 1959 Mayo Clinic Board of Governors 32:24 Extracranial involvement in GCA 33:24 When did we recognize aorta involvement? Syphilis enters the picture 35:08 A recap of the history of GCA 41:25 Thanks for listening 42:19 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: Horton BT, Proc Cent SOC Clin Res. 1946 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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The Unnecessarily Complex Story of Rheumatoid Factor
10/13/2025
The Unnecessarily Complex Story of Rheumatoid Factor
The story of rheumatoid factor could be a 10 minute episode, but in this episode, we dig deep into the history of the lab techniques leading up to this discovery…that happened twice. Intro 0:15 Rheumatoid factor quick background and history 00:36 Rheumatology blood tests 3:02 What is Rheumatoid factor? 3:49 Spiderman and latex agglutination: Testing for rheumatoid factor 4:50 The double discovery of rheumatoid factor 8:03 Putting agglutination on the medical map in 1896 10:08 Pop Quiz! 11:21 Serotherapy 13:10 When did we start using agglutination for testing? 14:17 First discovery of blood groups 14:50 The complement fixation test 17:22 Testing for syphilis with complement fixation and agglutination 21:01 The first discovery of rheumatoid factor 24:11 We forget about rheumatoid factor 27:44 Rediscovering rheumatoid factor 28:20 Analytical ultracentrifugation 32:50 What rheumatoid factor is used for 36:01 Thanks for listening 38:22 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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Don’t forget the toes: Managing patients with ANCA vasculitis
09/29/2025
Don’t forget the toes: Managing patients with ANCA vasculitis
Active or not active, that is the question. In this week's episode we interview Alexandra Villa-Forte, MD, MPH, a staff physician in the Center for Vasculitis Care and Research at Cleveland Clinic and a leading vasculitis expert, on a pragmatic approach to recognizing disease activity in patients with ANCA vasculitis. · Intro 0:01 · Welcome Alexandra Villa-Forte, MD, MPH 0:10 · Dr. Brown sketches a potential patient that may be seen in practice 0:40 · How are you monitoring patients’ kidneys? 1:28 · How reliable are ‘no casts’ results in urinalysis tests? 4:15 · What is happening in the glomeruli? 5:23 · The importance of monitoring the urinalysis of patients with ANCA vasculitis 7:06 · Symptoms to watch for when tapering off medications 7:43 · Different scenarios with lung symptoms 9:35 · Evaluating patients with GPA; looking at the nose, ear and sinuses 12:20 · Neurologic symptoms in ANCA vasculitis 14:24 · Laboratory monitoring 15:52 · Should ANCA titers be a part of routine vasculitis monitoring? 17:05 · What is your approach using PJP prophylaxis in ANCA-associated vasculitis? 18:05 Thank you, Dr. Villa-Forte! 20:25 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. Healio was unable to confirm relevant financial disclosures for Villa-Forte at the time of publication.
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Healio Community Book Club: A conversation between Leonard Calabrese, DO and Eric Topol, MD, author of Super Agers
09/19/2025
Healio Community Book Club: A conversation between Leonard Calabrese, DO and Eric Topol, MD, author of Super Agers
This special edition episode features the latest installment of Healio Community’s book club. Physician author Eric Topol, MD, discusses his book, a guide to the science of living a long life free of debilitating diseases with Leonard H. Calabrese, DO, chief medical editor of Healio Rheumatology. · Intro by Adam J. Brown, MD 0:01 · A warm welcome by Leonard H. Calabrese, DO 0:47 · Introducing Eric Topol, MD 1:12 · “Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again” but did you think it would happen this fast? 1:54 · Let’s get into “Super Agers” 3:46 · What’s killing most people? 6:33 · An evidence-based treatise on healthy aging 9:42 · The role of immune health in longevity 12:55 · What’s next on the horizon? 16:14 · A candle in the dark 19:40 · Minimizing the risk of getting old while you age 22:14 · The influence of health behaviors on immunologic wellness 25:15 · The hot issues: GLP-1’s 26:28 · A new world for immunology 31:50 · Thank you, Dr. Topol 33:09 · Thanks for listening 33:57 Don’t miss out! To engage in future conversations like this with physician authors on Healio Community, . We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . Disclosures: No products or companies that would require financial disclosure are mentioned in this episode.
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The Astounding Account of the IL-17 and Spondylarthritis
07/28/2025
The Astounding Account of the IL-17 and Spondylarthritis
In this episode, we focus on the history of researchers discovering the clinical applicability of the IL 23/17 axis, with a particular emphasis on psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and axial SpA Intro 0:15 In this episode 0:27 Leonard Calabrese, DO, is listening! 1:07 Recap of last episode 3:23 Putting the pieces together 5:32 Quick overview of this science heavy episode 6:27 What is psoriasis? 7:42 Immunosuppressants for psoriasis/ Throwing meds at people and seeing what happens 10:20 In the modern world of 1986 – olive oil placebo trial 11:45 A quick aside into fungi 12:44 What kind of T-cells are involved here? 16:50 The TH-1 hypothesis 18:31 IL-23 and IL-17 are doing something 19:38 Going back to the drawing board in 2004 20:12 p40 + p19 = IL-23 21:08 IL-23 via minicircle DNA in mice 23:09 Brand new and shiny TH-17 25:30 The family of IL-17 26:40 What do we know about IL-17 and psoriasis? 27:17 IL-17A vs IL-17F in mouse studies 27:42 Finding the difference between IL-17A and IL-17F in humans 28:30 What exactly is IL-17 doing? 29:51 The articular manifestations of psoriatic arthritis 31:13 Spondylarthritis and the IL 23/17 axis 34:10 T-cells we haven’t talked about 35:49 Summary of this episode 39:17 Thanks for listening 41:38 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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The Tumultuous Tale of Th17-and the IL23/IL17 immune axis
06/30/2025
The Tumultuous Tale of Th17-and the IL23/IL17 immune axis
In this episode, we dive into a two-part story of intrigue starting from a paradigm shift in understanding of T cell biology because of a mouse model of post-measles encephalopathy, to the eventual recognition of the IL-23/17 immune axis. • Intro 0:01 • In this episode 0:12 • Interleukin-17 (IL-17) is a relatively recent discovery 1:34 • The beginning of TH-17 2:20 • Looking at autoimmune encephalopathy: A story of measles 03:30 • 1790’s woman with post measles inflammatory process in the brain 10:26 • What is causing post-infection encephalitis? 12:00 • Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis 12:30 • How did we find out the immune system was behind this - The rabies vaccine 13:09 • Similarity between the rabies vaccine and infections like measles 16:04 • T-cell lymphocytes 17:12 • The forgotten thymus 18:00 • What’s the function of T-cells? 19:35 • How do you tell T-cells apart? 21:14 • The Human Leukocyte Differentiation Antigens Party 24:05 • The godfather of T-cells 24:45 • The TH-1 and TH-2 axis 27:30 • Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis model screwed everything up 29:16 • Interferon gamma 32:32 • What’s missing? IL-23 surprise 33:40 • IL-17 in the 1990’s 36:44 • The world is introduced to TH-17 39:12 • Let’s recap what we learned 40:30 • That is the end! 42:30 • Thanks for listening 42:39 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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History of polymyalgia rheumatica: The origin of the pain & link to giant cell arteritis
05/30/2025
History of polymyalgia rheumatica: The origin of the pain & link to giant cell arteritis
In this episode, we dive into the history of polymyalgia rheumatica, how it was discovered and its link to giant cell arteritis. Intro 0:01 In this episode 0:10 What is polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR)? 0:24 The history of PMR 02:12 PMR in the 1950s: A formally recognized disease 04:52 What was probably PMR in the 1880s 06:27 Naming PMR: Senile rheumatic gout 07:26 1957: The witch’s shot and finally landing on polymyalgia rheumatica 08:30 Where is PMR coming from? 14:42 Injecting joins with saline 16:39 A biopsy study in 1964 19:54 Technetium bone scintigraphy in 1971 and bone scan history 23:01 First look at a PMR ultrasound in 1993 27:00 1997: First use of MRI on PMR patients in Italy 27:49 Going back to 1962: PMRs association with giant cell arteritis 30:40 A paper on muscular involvement in giant cell arteritis: 80-year-old ‘robust’ partially blind seaman 32:15 First systematic approach: The link between PMR and giant cell arteritis 35:14 80 cases of PMR 38:13 Swedish autopsy studies 41:07 Introduction of advanced imaging in the 1990s 42:40 Summing up PMR through the decades 43:28 That is the end! 45:25 Thanks for listening 45:50 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: Cantini F, et al. J Rheumatol. 2001;28(5):1049-55. Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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Pulmonary hypertension, part 4: The therapeutics, with Dr. Joseph Parambil
04/23/2025
Pulmonary hypertension, part 4: The therapeutics, with Dr. Joseph Parambil
In the final part of this series, Joseph Parambil, MD, walks us through the approach of managing pulmonary hypertension, reviews the pathophysiology and digs into the mechanisms and the differences in the medications. Intro 0:12 In this episode 0:17 Interview with Joseph Parambil, MD 2:53 Reviewing and clarifying pathophysiology prior to initiating therapeutics 4:13 Evaluating patients in terms of their functional status and how does that play a role in initiating therapies 4:25 Vasoreactivity testing 10:21 The categories of medications 14:40 Endothelin receptor antagonists 37:07 TGF pathway 42:13 Scleroderma patient and treatment 50:19 Do patients get a repeat right-heart catheterization? 55:51 What about the TGF-beta? 56:55 Thank you, Dr. Parambil 58:34 Thanks for listening 59:17 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . Disclosures: Brown and Parambil report no relevant financial disclosures. Joseph Parambil, MD, is a staff member in the Respiratory Institute and the director of the HHT Center of Excellence and the Vascular Anomalies Center at the Cleveland Clinic. He is associate professor of medicine at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner College of Medicine. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine with additional specialty certification in pulmonary medicine and critical care medicine.
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Pulmonary hypertension, part 3: Early therapies and vascular physiology
03/25/2025
Pulmonary hypertension, part 3: Early therapies and vascular physiology
In this episode, we dive into the early therapies and how our understanding of vascular physiology drastically changed the management of pulmonary hypertension. Intro 0:12 In this episode 0:18 Recap of part 1 & 2 0:31 What part 3 is about 2:31 WHO conference in 1975: Treating pulmonary hypertension 3:48 5:20 Epoprostenol 6:18 Prostacyclin 10:37 Endothelin antagonists 11:41 Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors 14:08 Interaction of nerves and blood vessels 15:06 The Soups VS the Sparks 17:36 A dreamed experiment 19:06 Acetylcholine 23:23 Enter “the calabar bean” 24:45 Acetylcholine and vasodilation: 1976 26:01 Rabbit aorta 27:45 Nitric oxide 29:38 Why are we using nitric oxide to treat pulmonary hypertension? 31:31 Tachyphylaxis 33:48 TNT factories 35:09 Nitrous oxide and tachyphylaxis 36:52 Pfizer in the 1980s 38:06 Understanding the trigger of pulmonary hypertension 40:53 PDE5 and nitric oxide and pulmonary hypertension 43:07 The end of the ripping yarns 44:20 Coming up in part 4 46:17 Thanks for listening 47:29 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: Bernard C. C R Soc Biol. 1851;3:163-164. Warren JV. Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 1988;99:10-6. Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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Pulmonary hypertension and the rheumatologist, part 2: The history
02/26/2025
Pulmonary hypertension and the rheumatologist, part 2: The history
In part 2, we dig into the history of pulmonary hypertension. How did this strange diagnosis first get recognized, what does it have to do with cows with thick necks and urinary catheters in the heart? Intro 0:11 In this episode 0:17 Recap of part 1 0:26 How was pulmonary hypertension discovered? 2:38 1891 3:51 1901 5:07 1935 7:02 Hilar dance 12:58 Cardiac catheterization: 1929 15:03 When did cardiac catheterization become relevant? 20:10 1965: Aminorex 24:40 World Health Organization: 1975 26:37 1980s: toxic oil syndrome of Spain 28:20 Preview of part 3 33:15 Back to cardiac catheterization 34:08 Briskets disease 35:45 1947 37:56 Pulmonary physiology and prostaglandin therapies (in the next episode) 38:41 Schistosomiasis outbreaks in Egypt 1938 40:26 Chronic thromboembolism 45:03 Thanks for listening 48:16 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: Egypt. Stanford.edu. Published 2015. https://schisto.stanford.edu/pdf/Egypt.pdf. Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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Pulmonary hypertension and the rheumatologist, part 1: A bit of background
02/12/2025
Pulmonary hypertension and the rheumatologist, part 1: A bit of background
In this series, we dive into what rheumatologists should know about pulmonary hypertension, starting an interview with Joseph Parambil, MD, where we learn about the disease, when to suspect and how to work up! Intro 0:11 In this episode 0:16 Preview of the four-part series 4:46 Interview with Joseph Parambil, MD 6:27 How did you become interested in pulmonary hypertension? 7:02 Brown and Parambil discuss the histology of pulmonary hypertension. 10:13 Brown and Parambil discuss a case of pulmonary hypertension. 12:26 What is pulmonary hypertension and what does that mean for a rheumatologist? Where is pulmonary hypertension happening? 13:25 Describe the different groups of pulmonary hypertension. 19:51 A note about Dr. Chatterjee 20:25 Brown and Parambil discuss the groups of pulmonary hypertension. 23:35 What should we know about evaluating patients with pulmonary hypertensions? 26:51 Brown and Parambil discuss bendopnea and other signs of pulmonary hypertension. 29:58 What about the heart sound? 33:06 What should we look for in patients who we suspect to have pulmonary hypertension? 36:52 What should we look for in the tricuspid jet? 38:18 Brown and Parambil discuss the use of echocardiograms in pulmonary hypertension. 39:28 Tell us about the threshold of diagnosis. 40:47 What is the difference between the mean pressure and the wedge pressure? 41:41 What about the role of the pulmonary function test? 43:55 Summary 46:41 Do you think the pulmonary hypertension in scleroderma and lupus are different entities? 48:37 Brown and Parambil discuss the connection of autoimmune disease and pulmonary hypertension. 50:49 Coming up in episode 91 51:50 Thanks for listening 52:25 Disclosures: Brown and Parambil report no relevant financial disclosures. Joseph Parambil, MD, is a staff member in the Respiratory Institute and the director of the HHT Center of Excellence and the Vascular Anomalies Center at the Cleveland Clinic. He is associate professor of medicine at Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner College of Medicine. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine with additional specialty certification in pulmonary medicine and critical care medicine. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter .
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COVID's role in autoimmunity and where we are in the world of long COVID
01/22/2025
COVID's role in autoimmunity and where we are in the world of long COVID
On this episode, hear the 2024 updates on COVID-19, long COVID and the latest developments in research in rheumatology. Hosted by Dr. Leonard Calabrese. Intro 0:12 In this episode 0:21 Coming up on Healio Rheuminations 0:56 2:19 Questions 3:12 Long COVID 4:46 Calabrese’s bias 10:15 The evidence 13:08 Auto antibodies 14:54 Why does the body develop auto antibodies? 17:47 COVID-19 and epidemiologic association 22:25 New clinical entity 26:40 Therapeutic implications 31:00 In conclusion 32:00 Thanks for listening 33:18 Leonard H. Calabrese, DO, is the chief medical editor, Healio Rheumatology, and professor of medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, and RJ Fasenmyer chair of clinical immunology at the Cleveland Clinic. Disclosures: Calabrese reports professional relationships with AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Galvani, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Novartis, Regeneron, Sanofi and UCB. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter .
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The Story of the Flu Vaccine (Re-Release)
10/24/2024
The Story of the Flu Vaccine (Re-Release)
It's that time of year again, everyone rolling up their sleeves to get a flu shot. This throwback episode dives into the history of the struggles pinning down the causative agent of flu and the journey to the vaccine! Intro 0:40 In this episode 1:11 The history of the flu: 1892 1:41 What do we know about viruses? 6:29 Rabies and dead virus 11:17 14:43 1918 16:44 Vaccines and trials 19:13 Pig influenza 23:12 Influenza: a filterable agent we can’t see 27:01 The trials of 1942 33:02 PS: 1918 influenza 38:57 Thanks for listening 47:42 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: . Rosenau MJ. Experiments Upon Volunteers to Determine the Cause and Mode of Spread of Influenza, Boston, November and December, 1918. Accessed December 6, 2023. Tobin J. The first flu shot. . Accessed December 6, 2023.
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NSAIDs, Part 3: The rise, fall and rise again of COX-2 inhibition
08/29/2024
NSAIDs, Part 3: The rise, fall and rise again of COX-2 inhibition
In the third episode of the NSAIDs saga, we focus on COX-2 inhibition! Did the hopes and dreams of selective COX-2 inhibition pan out? What can the rise and fall of VIOXX teach us about physiology? Intro 0:11 Recap of part 1 & 2 0:28 In this episode 1:44 Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and the rat experiment 3:12 What do we know about the prostaglandins? And what about COX-2 7:54 What does prostacyclin do? 10:33 The first COX-2 inhibitor: VIOXX 10:56 What is COX-2 doing?: Pfizer and Merck 12:15 Two more NSAID studies: colon cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and COX-2 inhibitors 18:41 VIOXX: Why is myocardial infarction risk occurring? 22:34 Animal models and the Goldilocks theory of thromboxane and prostacyclin 23:49 PRECISION trial 30:25 37:14 Thanks for listening 37:32 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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NSAIDs, Part 2: The Dawn of the Anti-Inflammatories
06/26/2024
NSAIDs, Part 2: The Dawn of the Anti-Inflammatories
In this episode, we dive into the story of aspirin and the development of ibuprofen, ending with the experiments that showed the mechanism of how aspirin actually works. Intro 0:12 Review of part 1 0:28 In this episode 1:04 Blocking prostaglandins and willow leaves 2:26 Edward Stone 3:45 Johann Andreas Buchner 4:16 The chemical structure of salicylic acid and creating the synthetic compound 4:44 Dr. TJ MacLagan: The first trial in 1876 and treating acute rheumatism 5:16 Felix Hoffmann: manipulating salicylic acid and aspirin 8:47 How widespread was the use of aspirin for rheumatoid arthritis? 12:04 1938: problems with aspirin and endoscopies 14:58 1950s: long-term use of aspirin and chronic renal impairment 17:12 Dr. Lawrence Craven: the use of aspirin to treat myocardial infarction 18:13 Overview of what we’ve learned so far 20:48 Stewart Adams: the development of ibuprofen 21:40 A paper lost to time 23:29 How do you test if a drug is anti-inflammatory? 25:25 How do you make better aspirin? 26:55 1960: a trial comparing ibuprofen, baby aspirin and prednisone in patients with rheumatoid arthritis 30:03 Aspirin, ibuprofen and other NSAIDs 32:49 Nobel Prize winner Dr. John Vane 33:40 Dr. Vane: what triggered prostaglandin production? 35:42 Another guinea pig experiment 37:37 Nobel Prize winner Dr. Bengt Samuelsson 39:00 Interesting tidbits: early studies looking at the side effects of NSAIDs 40:01 1968: gastric ulcer formation and prostaglandins in rats 40:25 1973: renal blood flow and prostaglandins in dogs 41:53 1974: aspirin vs ibuprofen vs indomethacin for the heart 44:03 Aspirin vs ibuprofen vs indomethacin 44:20 On the next episode 46:09 Thanks for listening 46:37 We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: . Harris SC, Fosdick LS. Theoretical considerations of the mechanisms of antipyretic analgesia. NWU Bull. 1952;53: 6–9. Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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The Discovery of Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), Part 1
05/16/2024
The Discovery of Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), Part 1
Humans have had an insatiable appetite for inhibiting production of prostaglandins for centuries! This series delves into the history of aspirin and NSAIDs, looking at the understanding of the prostaglandin pathway. · Intro 0:12 · In this episode 0:23 · What are NSAIDs? 0:53 · Prostaglandins 5:50 · What are prostaglandins? 7:19 · Where do prostaglandins come from? 8:45 · So, what do we do with prostaglandins? 13:15 · How did they figure out prostaglandins? 13:55 · Naming the prostaglandin 21:25 · Phospholipids 24:46 · Arachidonic acid 25:28 · Arachidonic acid into prostaglandins: how do you prove it? 26:32 · How does arachidonic acid turn into prostaglandins? 27:27 · Cyclo-oxygenase 28:36 · mRNA and COX-2 32:50 · On the next episode 35:55 · Summary 36:38 · Thanks for listening 37:49 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: .
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Urticarial Vasculitis, Part 2: Walking the Balance Beam of Allergy and Rheumatology
04/18/2024
Urticarial Vasculitis, Part 2: Walking the Balance Beam of Allergy and Rheumatology
This episode digs into the pathophysiology of urticaria vasculitis from anti-C1q to the story of bradykinin. · Intro 0:11 · In this episode 0:22 · Review of episode 83 1:23 · Listen to previous episode, 4:09 · Anti-C1q antibodies 6:26 · Lupus, anti-C1q and lupus nephritis 9:33 · What happens when you inject anti-C1q in a mouse? 12:56 · The allergy component: anti-C1q, urticaria and angioedema 17:36 · Bradykinin-mediated angioedema and C1q deficiency 24:20 · What is the kinin kallikrein system? 26:21 · French researchers in 1909: human urine injected in dogs 27:30 · How is this relevant to urticarial vasculitis? 31:08 · SERPING1 gene mutation 31:23 · Summary 32:06 · COPD association with urticarial vasculitis 33:51 · Coming up in episode 85 35:28 · Thanks for listening 35:45 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References:
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Urticarial Vasculitis: Attack of the Nettles, Part 1
02/28/2024
Urticarial Vasculitis: Attack of the Nettles, Part 1
Is it an allergy or an autoimmune vasculitis, or a little of both? Find out the story of urticarial vasculitis, how this disease was recognized and eventually sorted out from other types of urticaria. · Intro 0:12 · In this episode 0:21 · Case study 1:22 · Chronic spontaneous urticaria, hives and nettles 7:57 · Dermatographism and witchcraft? 10:15 · Causes of urticaria 11:17 · Theory of inflammation and histamines 11:40 · Urticaria and treatments with histamines 12:09 · Types of urticaria 13:02 · Mayo Clinic study 13:39 · 16:10 · Connection between types of urticaria and leukocytoclastic vasculitis 20:02 · More case studies 20:38 · What do we know about treatments? 22:23 · In conclusion 24:15 · Coming up in part two 25:08 · Thanks for listening 25:47 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: McDuffie FC, et al. Mayo Clin Proc. 1973;48(5):340-8.
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COVID-19, long COVID and the rheumatologist with Leonard Calabrese, DO
01/04/2024
COVID-19, long COVID and the rheumatologist with Leonard Calabrese, DO
What should rheumatologists know about what we've learned about COVID-19 and long COVID in 2023? Hosted by Dr. Leonard Calabrese. · Intro 0:11 · In this episode 0:21 · 2023: current status and controversies 0:35 · What is going on with COVID-19? 01:53 · What do we know about vaccine responses? What should we be telling our patients about vaccines in our immunocompromised population? 2:58 · 3:08 · What about patients within the rheumatic and autoimmune disease space? 4:15 · Who is immunocompromised and why does it matter? 5:11 · What is the immunosuppression we are giving them? 6:39 · What to tell patients about getting vaccinated 8:56 · Long COVID 10:09 · What is long COVID? 10:26 · 14:19 · In the clinical arena, what should rheumatologists be thinking about? 16:38 · What about pathogenesis? What do we know about the controversies in this area? 18:58 · Autoimmunity: COVID-19 and autoimmune response 20:45 · What about therapies? 22:22 · 24:40 · A question for the rheumatology community: do patients with immune mediated diseases get more long COVID than the control population? 25:40 · In conclusion 27:37 · Thanks for listening 28:38 Leonard H. Calabrese, DO, is the chief medical editor, Healio Rheumatology, and professor of medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, and RJ Fasenmyer chair of clinical immunology at the Cleveland Clinic. Disclosures: Calabrese reports professional relationships with AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Galvani, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Novartis, Regeneron, Sanofi and UCB.. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter .
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The Story of the Flu Vaccine
12/07/2023
The Story of the Flu Vaccine
It's that time of year again, everyone rolling up their sleeves to get a flu shot. This episode dives into the history of the struggles pinning down the causative agent of flu and the journey to the vaccine! · Intro 0:12 · In this episode 0:17 · The history of the flu: 1892 3:10 · Rabies and dead virus 10:52 · 14:31 · Vaccines and trials 19:13 · Pig influenza 23:21 · Influenza: a filterable agent we can’t see 27:10 · The trials of 1942 33:18 · PS: 1918 influenza 39:13 · Finding the 1918 influenza vaccine 39:54 · Thanks for listening 47:54 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References: Rosenau MJ. Experiments Upon Volunteers to Determine the Cause and Mode of Spread of Influenza, Boston, November and December, 1918. . Accessed December 6, 2023. Tobin J. The first flu shot. . Accessed December 6, 2023.
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It's in the Air: Silica exposure and the risk of autoimmunity, Part 4
11/15/2023
It's in the Air: Silica exposure and the risk of autoimmunity, Part 4
What is silica? How does it impact your risk of developing autoimmunity if you inhale it, inject it or even snort it up your nose? Listen and find out! · Intro 0:12 · In the previous episodes 0:28 · The Ajax incident of 1979 1:15 · Silica and its association with autoimmune disease 4:11 · The history of silica and the health risks 5:21 · Rheumatoid scleroderma, etc. 8:14 · Cardiff pneumoconiosis medical panel 9:49 · Databases 12:51 · Silica exposure and the development of serologies 15:02 · What would happen if you injected silica into the veins? 16:51 · Anca vasculitis 18:33 · Thanks for listening 23:23 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References:
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Autoimmunity, Part 3: The Lupus Gradient
10/30/2023
Autoimmunity, Part 3: The Lupus Gradient
In this episode, we dig through the data of lupus in Africa and speak with experts on the Lupus Gradient, the impact of malaria and what we can learn from it all. · Intro 0:12 · In the previous episode 0:30 · Lupus Gradient 2:01 · Back to Dr. Brian Greenwood 3:48 · Polyarthritis 4:04 · Rates of autoimmune diseases 6:00 · Malaria and mouse models 7:33 · Back to lupus 8:48 · First case of lupus 15:14 · Prevalence of lupus 17:15 · Papers on lupus 21:23 · Dr. Mickael Essouma 23:38 · Dr. Essouma, how did you conduct this study? 24:01 · Did you ever believe there was a gradient? 26:09 · Dr. Sandro Vento 30:56 · Dr. Vento, do you believe there was a lupus gradient? 31:51 · What are the connections to infectious disease? 38:51 · That’s a wrap! 43:04 · Coming up in part 4 44:55 · Thanks for listening 45:05 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. Healio could not confirm relevant financial disclosures for Essouma and Vento at the time of posting. Mickael Essouma, MD, is physician from Cameroon specialized in internal medicine at the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon, with a complimentary certificate on rheumatology from the EULAR online course and a certificate on lupus from the European Lupus Society (SLEuro). He is an advocate of lupus and other autoimmune diseases in Africans. Sandro Vento, MD, is the dean of faculty of medicine at the University of Puthisastra, Phnom Penh, Cambodia and a consultant and collaborating specialist at Mayo Clinic Center for Tuberculosis, WHO Collaborating Center. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References:
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The Geography of Autoimmunity, Part 2
08/17/2023
The Geography of Autoimmunity, Part 2
This episode delves into what we can learn about the impact of the environment on autoimmunity, digging into how rates of autoimmunity can vary drastically in different parts of the world. · Intro 0:12 · In this episode 0:16 · Dr. Brian Greenwood 0:22 · The geography of autoimmunity 7:01 · Type 1 diabetes 10:31 · Finland and type 1 diabetes 13:57 · Socioeconomics 17:59 · Genetics and autoimmune diseases 24:19 · Migration studies 24:53 · Denmark and multiple sclerosis 30:06 · Coming up in part 3 36:02 · Thanks for listening 38:16 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References:
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The Environment and Autoimmunity, Part 1
07/12/2023
The Environment and Autoimmunity, Part 1
This episode delves into the history of the hygiene hypothesis. What do we know about different exposures changing risk for asthma and allergies, and do these exposures have the same protection for autoimmunity? · Intro 0:12 · In this episode 0:18 · Hygiene hypothesis 0:33 · Allergic rhinitis (or Hay fever) 2:32 · Pollen and the allergy skin test 8:58 · Exposure and cleanliness 10:22 · Allergic rhinitis and Cree Native Americans 11:51 · Appendicitis 13:10 · Family size and asthma 14:36 · Rural versus urban populations 17:41 · Dust 18:31 · Children, day care and infections 22:43 · The “old friends” theory 28:29 · Farming and allergies 30:07 · The Amish and the Hutterites 33:02 · Mice, dust and asthma 34:47 · Thanks for listening 37:40 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References:
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An Afternoon with the Glaucomfleckens: On hypermobility and physician burnout
06/28/2023
An Afternoon with the Glaucomfleckens: On hypermobility and physician burnout
On this special episode of Rheuminations, I interview comedian and ophthalmologist William Flanary, MD, and Kristin Flanary, also known as the Glaucomfleckens, on hypermobility and physician burnout. Kristen Flanary highlights what it's like to live with hypermobility, and Dr. William Flanary discusses his thoughts on physician burnout and using their podcast, Knock Knock, Hi, as comedy relief. · Intro 0:11 · In this episode 0:45 · Interview with Dr. William and Kristin Flanary, also known as Doctor and Lady Glaucomflecken 2:49 · Rheumatology and ophthalmology overlap 3:11 · Can you tell me a few things about yourselves? 7:48 · Kristin Flanary, MA: when did you notice your hypermobility and when did you start having complications from it? 12:19 · Do you ever fully dislocate or do you kind of feel like you’re about to? 19:53 · Chest compressions and William Flanary 25:23 · Have you done any bracing? 26:24 · Dr. Linda Bluestein, , on the Glaucomfleckens podcast 30:24 · William Flanary, MD: can you talk about your experience with physician burnout? And are you optimistic about AI solving the physician burnout problem? 31:16 · , 37:01 · Can you tell us more about your podcast, ? 41:06 · Thank you 44:59 Disclosures: Brown and the Flanarys report no relevant financial disclosures. William E. Flanary, MD, is an ophthalmologist and part-time comedian, also known as Dr. Glaucomflecken. You can follow him on Twitter . Kristin Flanary, MA, is a marketing and communications specialist, also known as Lady Glaucomflecken. You can follow her on Twitter . We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter .
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The Black Death and Autoimmunity
04/03/2023
The Black Death and Autoimmunity
Was your psoriasis caused by the Black Death? Learn more than you might have wanted to know about the Black Death and delve into the data on the immunologic/autoimmune ramifications of wiping out nearly half of Europe. · Intro 0:11 · In this episode 1:09 · The Black Death 1:24 · episode 2:07 · How the Black Death happened 4:07 · How many people died from the Black Death? 6:49 · Record keeping 6:53 · The modern immune system, the Black Death and HIV 8:43 · What is CCR5? 8:55 · Current data on autoimmune diseases 10:35 · ERAP2 15:55 · How yersinia pestis kills you 21:04 · The inflammasome 22:03 · episode 22:09 · Mediterranean fever and mouse model 24:49 · Takeaways 30:20 · Summary 30:59 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References:
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Vascular Ehlers Danlos Syndrome for the Rheumatologist, Pt 2: Extra-Cellular Matrix Reloaded
02/28/2023
Vascular Ehlers Danlos Syndrome for the Rheumatologist, Pt 2: Extra-Cellular Matrix Reloaded
In this episode we explore ways in which the extracellular matrix can be manipulated, including the story of doxycycline, TGF-beta in Marfan syndrome and whether beta blockers can reduce vascular events in vascular EDS. · Intro 0:12 · Review of previous episode 0:28 · In this episode 2:26 · The pressure against the vessels 4:06 · The pressure against the wall 8:44 · Matrix metalloproteinases 10:16 · Tadpole study – collagen breakdown 10:35 · Tetracycline antibiotics 14:05 · Rat model – periodontal disease and hydroxyproline 14:24 · Chemically modified tetracyclines 20:14 · Mouse model – tetracycline use 22:00 · Tetracyclines and other autoimmune conditions 23:22 · Marfan syndrome 24:45 · Fibrillin and Marfan syndrome 28:48 · TGF-beta 29:36 · Mouse model – Marfan syndrome and fibrillin 31:14 · ARBs and TGF-beta 33:51 · TGF-beta and vascular EDS 37:25 · Back to the mouse model 38:38 · Protein kinase C 39:56 · Summary 40:26 Disclosures: Brown reports no relevant financial disclosures. We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Brown at . Follow us on Twitter . References:
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