Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be a very painful and difficult disease to treat. RA is a chronic disease that affects over one million Americans, with more women developing than men.
It’s possible to have RA and not live with pain all the time. Some people have flares, times where the pain is difficult to manage alternating with time when it’s not too bad. Others live with the pain and disfigurement caused by the arthritis just about all the time.
With RA, the synovium (lining) of the joints becomes inflamed. This causes damage, which in turn causes pain and the disfigurement as the …read more

Canadians living with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis may benefit from a newly approved drug, golimumab (Simponi).

According to a press release issued by the manufacturer, Schering-Plough, the once monthly injection – alone or in combination with another drug, methotrexate, proved helpful in five different trials and patients who had rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, or ankylosing spondylitis found that, on average, their signs and symptoms had decreased.
Of course, this medication does have some side effects as all medications do, so doctors should be careful in prescribing golimumab. For example, patients with severe infections or who are allergic to …read more

For people who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and for whom different treatments need to be tried before an effective one is found, it may seem treating RA is like taking a stab in the dark. Although it may seem like that, it’s not so. Diseases like RA are usually treated following a set of guidelines that have been developed over the years and, as new treatments are developed and older ones are refined or discarded, new guidelines are developed.
Recently, new guidelines or recommendations were issued by the American College of Rheumatology for the treatment of RA. The biggest issue in …read more

Ok folks, another study on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and DMARDs (disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs); what are we going to make of it?
According to a press release issued by the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), “At least 50% of recent onset rheumatoid arthritis patients achieve remission (a state free of signs and symptoms) within 36 weeks when following a systematic approach of step-up DMARD treatment in combination with tight control.”
This finding, presented at the annual congress, was based on this guideline:
Methotrexate 15mg/week was initiated following diagnosis
If remission was not achieved at week 8, the dose was increased to …read more

The older methods of treating psoriasis, such as using methotrexate, had many side effects and problems. The medications did – and still do – help many, but the search is always on for better treatments.
A while ago, biologic agents became available for treatment of psoriasis. The treatment seems to be quite effective for many and is providing hope for those who couldn’t tolerate the older treatments.
Here is a video with three physicians who work with patients with psoriasis, explaining how biologic agents work. Just click on the TV screen:

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