Breakthrough in treatment of arthritis
Rheumatoid patients will use and change medication such as biological drugs, glucocorticoids and low dose chemotherapeutic drugs multiple times. PHOTO | FOTOSEARCH
In most cases, administering drugs for the three classes of rheumatoid diseases is a trial and error process.
As a result, rheumatoid patients will use and change medication such as biological drugs, glucocorticoids and low dose chemotherapeutic drugs multiple times. “The first-choice drug in the treatment of rheumatoid diseases has no effect in around one in three patients. Doctors monitoring these diseases often have to deploy different types of drugs before they can establish the type of medication that works and that which doesn’t,” says Dr Tue Kragstrup, the head of the Department of Biomedicine and the Department of Rheumatology at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark.
In most cases, this trial and error procedure may end up taking months, if not years. “Each of the drugs used typically takes three to four months before showing effectiveness,” says Dr Kragstrup.
But, this is now about to change, thanks to new research findings by a team of rheumatoid doctors and researchers at Aarhus University Hospital. In a report, this team has announced progress in the formulation of a one-time correct drug after diagnosis.
The team also says the composition of cells in the joint of the patient will now determine whether the treatment option being administered will be effective or not.
This breakthrough was achieved after the team of doctors in the study examined the effectiveness of nine drugs in three different in vitro models. “Rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis and psoriatic arthritis are generally characterised by an overreaction in the immune system with inflammation of the affected joints.
Dr Eliud Mwaura, a rheumatologist, says unlike what is popularly believed as a disease of the elderly, a rheumatoid disease can affect anyone in any age group. “If unmanaged, this disease can be very painful to an extent of making it impossible to carry out simple tasks, especially during cold seasons,” he says.
Dr Mwaura says rheumatoid arthritis usually targets the cells in the immune system by causing the erosion of bones. “This diseases inflicts the lining of the joint capsule,” he adds.
