Rheumatoid Arthritis Medication
 Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) causes joint pain, deformity, and dysfunction; it is associated with significant morbidity and disability, as well as early death.
Complete
Line of Arthritis Medication
Timely diagnosis and effective treatment can help slow the progression of RA to irreversible joint damage and deformity. Methotrexate therapy, though not a cure, provides relief to more than 40% of patients. Use of newer agents called anticytokines is associated with both symptomatic and radiographic improvements. Anticytokine therapy is far more expensive than methotrexate, but this more selective aggressive treatment, if administered early, is expected to significantly reduce overall lifetime treatment costs.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Medication for Less
| Traditionally, treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been aimed primarily at alleviating RA's characteristic symptoms of joint pain, swelling, and stiffness. Yet joint damage and destruction begin early in the disease process. Thus, there is now increased emphasis on early aggressive therapy to slow the destruction of cartilage and bone, thereby delaying progression of the disease to irreversible joint damage and deformity--and in some patients, early mortality. Disease modification leading to improved quality of life is now considered a realistic goal. (1,2) (For information about the epidemiology,
pathophysiology, and diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, please see Terebelo S. Rheumatoid arthritis: making the diagnosis [Board Review]. Clinician Reviews. 2003;13(2):57-64.) |
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