Scientists Improve Arthritis Treatments

During the course of a six month study, 399 patients in 13 countries participated, who were suffering from a moderate to severe form of rheumatoid arthritis. They were all treated with a combination of Methotrexat, a standard drug for the treatment of RA and Tofacitinib, a new type of medication which can be administered orally as a tablet. Tofacitinib is a kinase inhibitor, which inhibits special enzymes which are involved in the inflammatory reactions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. When the so-called Janus kinases are inhibited, painful immune reactions are reduced. After half a year, the additional administration of the new medication led to an improvement in the initial symptoms in more than half of the patients.  Commentary: This is preliminary research on a chronic disease which case the good news, but there needs to be a follow-up with more patients over a longer period time to determine whether the side effects are worse than the disease.
Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - Category: Epidemiologists Authors: Tags: Chronic Disease Prevention research Translational Research Source Type: blogs