By Justine Shum, MSIV
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that most
commonly presents as an inflammatory arthritis affecting the joints. Like many
other autoimmune diseases, RA affects more women than men -- about 3x as many
women have the disease.
RA is a chronic disease that cannot be cured, but there are now
many medications that are effective in reducing symptoms and slowing the
progression of the disease. These medications are classified as
disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), and can further be separated
into conventional DMARDs such as methotrexate and sulfasalazine, and biologic
DMARDs such as rituximab and adalimumab. Because of DMARD use, the severe RA
that results in crippling joint deformities is fortunately becoming more rare.
Current recommendations call for treatment with DMARDs to begin
once a diagnosis of RA is made. Many patients wish to delay treatment, however,
recent studies have shown that early and immediate treatment of RA results in
lower disease activity in patients. These studies also show that at 2 years
following diagnosis, patients who received immediate treatment were less likely
to have joint damage and resultant disability.
Patient education of the disease course of rheumatoid arthritis
and the consequences of delaying treatment will likely make the difference in
patients who are wavering on initiating DMARDs. See the links below for some
basic patient education material provided by the American College of
Rheumatology.
Links:
Patient education (English): http://www.rheumatology.org/Practice/Clinical/Patients/Diseases_And_Conditions/Rheumatoid_Arthritis/
Patient education (Espanol): http://www.rheumatology.org/Practice/Clinical/Patients/Diseases_And_Conditions/Artritis_Reumatoidea_(Espa%C3%B1ol)/
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