Economic benefits of optimizing anchor therapy for rheumatoid arthritis

Is it time to optimize anchor therapy for rheumatoid arthritis?

The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) recommends that treatment of RA be considered in three phases [1]. Phase I should start immediately after diagnosis of RA, with patients recommended to receive synthetic DMARDs such as MTX, with or without the addition of glucocorticoids. Response to this anchor therapy should be monitored regularly (every 1 3 months), with the aim of achieving rem...

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: benefits from massage therapy.

Studied children with mild to moderate juvenile rheumatoid arthritis who were massaged by their parents 15 minutes a day for 30 days (and a control group engaged in relaxation therapy). The children's anxiety and stress hormone (cortisol) levels were immediately decreased by the massage, and over the 30-day period their pain decreased on self-reports, parent reports, and their physician's asses...

Update on methotrexate as the anchor drug for rheumatoid arthritis.

Methotrexate has become the "anchor drug" for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), taken by many more patients than any other disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) or biological agent. Methotrexate has greater efficacy and effectiveness than any other non-biologic DMARD, and greater tolerability and safety than other DMARDs. The efficacy of methotrexate is comparable to biologic agents in paralle...

Gene therapy for rheumatoid arthritis?

Specific Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis

THE term 'specific' is used to describe the effects of drugs like gold and penicillamine in rheumatoid arthritis. This type of action is to be distinguished from the effects of 'nonspecific' or symptomatic therapy, for example with analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs. In rheumatoid arthritis, specific drugs act not only on pain and inflammatory manifestations like swelling and stiffness, but ...