Some positive news about RA and new treatments

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone -

I know that for me one of the biggest fears when I was diagnosed with

RA was that I would become disabled quickly. I heard that over 50%

of folks with RA were completely disabled within 10 years of

diagnosis - not a pleasant future to look forward to. 5+ years later

though, I'm still doing ok (with help from a great doc and a lot of

medications). I came across this article today, and wanted to share

the hopeful news, particularly for those of you who are newly

diagnosed:

Study Shows Reduced Disability for People With Rheumatoid Arthritis

http://www.niams.nih.gov/ne/highlights/spotlight/2004/reduced.htm

Have disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and newer treatment

strategies improved the long-term disability outlook for patients

with rheumatoid arthritis? Scientists supported by the National

Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

say " yes. "

Eswar Krishnan, M.D., M.Phil., and Fries, M.D., of Stanford

University School of Medicine, found that average disability levels

in patients with rheumatoid arthritis have declined by 40 percent

since 1977 at a rate of about 2 percent a year.

During the past 20 years, significant changes in managing rheumatoid

arthritis have taken place. New and more powerful drugs are standard,

and treatment with these new drugs is more aggressive. These

treatment strategies have improved short-term disability outcomes,

but long-term trends in disability had not been studied until now.

The scientists used data from 3,035 patients enrolled from 1977 to

1998 in the ARAMIS (Arthritis, Rheumatism, and Aging Medical

Information System) data bank. The data bank is large, with treatment

history for a broad range of patients, and contains measurements of

disability that are widely accepted, including the ability to perform

such daily activities as dressing, eating and walking. The study's

timeframe corresponds to the period during which the use of the drug

methotrexate became a standard treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

Since 1999, newer drugs such as etanercept, infliximab and

leflunomide have been introduced and offer hope of even further

reductions in disability.

The NIAMS is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services' National Institutes of Health, the leading Federal agency

in biomedical and behavioral research.

Beth