RA patients should be offered early intensive treatment

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[Deleted User]
[Deleted User] Posts: 3,620
edited 7. Feb 2023, 10:09 in News Archive
Rheumatoid arthritis patients should be offered intensive treatment when first diagnosed

Two studies, presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, suggest it is beneficial to intensify treatment with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs when patients are first diagnosed.

http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/news/rheumatoid-arthritis-patients-should-be-offered-intensive-treatment-when-first-diagnosed/20068729.article

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  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,764
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    I thought it had been known for years that early, aggressive treatment was best. I suspect one problem will be convincing the patients of this. We get a lot of people already on here who are scared of the meds. I shall, in future, refer them to this article. Thanks.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy NonActiveMember5yrs Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    Surely this is already happening. My rheumatology department is very proud that they have scrapped the trying this for six months, trying that for another six, then trying this and that together. Money will be the crucial factor in this becoming more widespread. We're expensive patients who need these things for years and years . . . . DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • daffy2
    daffy2 Member Posts: 1,636
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    We're expensive patients who need these things for years and years
    That's true, but the alternative is hardly cheap, certainly not in the long term. Enabling patients to have some form of 'normal' life - work, independent living etc poses fewer problems, financial or practical, than consigning them to increasing disability. And it's not as if RA patients have brought the condition on themselves - hardly a lifestyle choice!

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