American College of Rheumatology (ACR) National Meeting, 2009: Update on Novel Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatments
A year ago I discussed the Janus Kinases (JAKs), a family of enzymes discovered in 1988. Some of these enzymes located in cells can play a role in the control of biochemicals which are involved with diseases,... Read more
Those of us who remember those days when the only treatment for rheumatoid arthritis was aspirin and hot paraffin, also remember that to speak of remission was considered by many an audacious act.
However, in the past twenty years, two breakthroughs allowed for improvement in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis:
The ... Read more
Many medications prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis can weaken the immune system, including prednisone, methotrexate, and, of course, the biologic agents such as Humira, Enbrel and Remicade, to name but a few. The use of these medications can make a patient more susceptible to the H1N1 virus (the so-called swine flu) and the regular... Read more
While the past decade has seen great advances in the understanding and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, there are still segments of the rheumatoid arthritis population that have not been able to even try many newer treatments due to the presence of other illnesses. Such patients must deal with more than one potentially life-shortening illness,... Read more
I have discussed here more than once the increased risk of death in rheumatoid arthritis patients when compared to healthy individuals. Interestingly, one-third to one-half of premature deaths in rheumatoid arthritis is due to cardiovascular disease; and it appears that inflammation plays a large role in the hardening of the arteries seen in... Read more
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