Treatment Options for Rheumatoid Arthritis


How do you treat Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)?

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is being  treated with drugs known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as ibuprofen and other analgesics to relieve pain and other symptoms.1  RA patients are also likely to be offered drugs known as disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), so called because they affect the underlying disease process.

DMARDs include methotrexate, sulfasalazine and ciclosporin, which all act to dampen down the immune system in one way or another.  DMARDs also include biologic therapies which are derived from human proteins rather than man-made chemicals.  While the older DMARDs act systemically, throughout the whole body, biologics target specific proteins in the body known to influence inflammation and the subsequent joint destruction. 
Because joint damage can occur very quickly at the beginning of the disease, there may be a need to initiate aggressive treatment very soon after an Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) diagnosis, before a significant amount of irreversible joint damage has occurred.3

Current treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) may be more powerful in combination than alone. Please speak to your healthcare professional about what treatment may be right for you.

This information is provided as a helpful resource; it is not intended to replace medical advice.

 

References:

  1. Lee DM, Weinblatt ME. Rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet. 2001;358:903-911
  2. National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society. What is Rheumatoid Arthritis? Accessed April 2010 http://www.nras.org.uk/about_rheumatoid_arthritis/what_is_ra/what_is_ra.aspx
  3. Weaver AL. The impact of new biologicals in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology. 2004;43(Suppl.3):iii17-iii23
  4. Callahan LF, Pincus T. Mortality in the rheumatic diseases. Arthritis Care Res. 1995;8:229-41
  5. Gabriel SE. The epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 2001;27:269-281