Re: Don't Delay Arthritis Treatment, Researchers Warn

[Guest guest]

Debbie and a,

I agree, it was a great article. Many of us have gone years with everything

from no diagnosis to let's wait for more test results, all the while our

disease is progressing and doing it's damage. Then when they finally decide

on a diagnosis (usually reluctantly), then they have to play catch up to try

to stop the disease and the damage it has caused. What a crazy system. And

the reason for this, is that most doctors don't take the time to " listen " to

us. They will " hear " our symptoms, but not take the time to put all pieces

of the puzzle together and come up with a working diagnosis. Most of us

don't fit into those nice neat cubby holes of disease symptoms that the docs

all learned in medical school and because of insurance, HMO's and Medicare

cuts, can't take the time to sit down and really put some thinking into these

cases. Kinda sad, all the money and time spent on medical training, only to

have practice cookie cutter medicine. Of course, the loser in this whole

scenario is the patient who is being sent from doctor to doctor, test to

test, medication to try to medication to try. Once again, sad situation.

Thanks for listening ladies and thanks again a for the timely article.

Hope you both have a pain free evening.

Gentle, tender, angel hugs,

Debs in FL

[Guest guest]

Wow a! How timely this article was published today! It looks like it

is important. I don't understand why if they know how important it is to

diagnose and treat early, why does it takes so long to get that diagnosis?

I know part of it is because there is no single test to diagnose it, and

symptoms can creep up on you gradually and not realize what the true nature

of your not feeling well is.

Thanks for your wonderful articles.

Debbie Mc

-- [ ] Don't Delay Arthritis Treatment, Researchers Warn

More...Don't Delay Arthritis Treatment, Researchers Warn

Wed Jun 12, 2:10 PM ET

By Woodman

LONDON (Reuters Health) - Even short delays in prescribing drugs to patients

with rheumatoid arthritis can result in significantly worse outcomes,

according to study findings presented on Wednesday.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease marked by inflammation in the

joints that causes pain, swelling and loss of mobility. It arises from an

abnormal immune system attack on the body's own tissue.

Austrian researchers said that although most rheumatologists already

recommend early use of so-called disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in

patients with this condition, there was little data comparing the outcome of

very early intervention with somewhat delayed intervention in patients with

early disease.

They said their study shows there is a definite " window of opportunity " for

successful treatment.

In the 3-year study, 20 patients with very early disease who had waited an

average of 3 months before being started on drugs were compared with a

matched group of 20 patients who had waited 20 months to start therapy.

After just 3 months of treatment, Dr V.P.K. Nell and colleagues at the

University Hospital of Vienna and at Lainz Hospital report, patients with

early therapy were doing better than those who had waited longer.

This continued over the course of the study, with the early-treatment group

showing a disease activity score improvement of 2.8, versus 1.7 for those in

the later-treatment group.

And at the end of the study, 70% of patients in the early-treatment group

fulfilled American College of Rheumatology criteria for a 20% improvement in

disease symptoms, while 40% of those in the later treatment group did. Three

years after treatment began, 7 people in the early-treatment group showed

evidence of bone damage on x-rays, versus 15 of the later-treatment group

patients.

The researchers told the EULAR congress in Stockholm, Sweden, that their

results showed that introducing disease-modifying drugs very early " seems

highly beneficial in (rheumatoid arthritis) compared with even relatively

short delay. Thus, early diagnosis and therapy is the crucial step in

achieving better control of disease progression and prognosis in (rheumatoid

arthritis). "

[Guest guest]

RA can be difficult to diagnose early because it may begin gradually with

subtle symptoms.

Blood tests and X-rays may be normal at first. The disease varies so much

among us all with

respect to symptoms, joints affected and the nature of other organs

involved, such as the eyes,

lungs or skin. Other types of arthritis may mimic RA. Until they come up

with one specific test,

It will continue to be a guessing game, while damage is being done. I wish

everyone with symptoms

were given something like minocycline. Low dose antibiotics are most

effective in the first 2 years

Of diagnosis, but many of us have gone beyond the 2 years before being

diagnosed. But it¹s difficult

to even get a rheumatologist to prescribe minocycline because so many of

them aren¹t educated in

treatment of rheumatic diseases with antibiotics. We can only pray that

more specific tests are found.

It is a sad scenario.

Hope you¹re feeling a little better today.

a

On 6/13/02 12:22 AM, " Auntblabbie2000@... " <Auntblabbie2000@...>

wrote:

> Debbie and a,

>

> I agree, it was a great article. Many of us have gone years with everything

> from no diagnosis to let's wait for more test results, all the while our

> disease is progressing and doing it's damage. Then when they finally decide

> on a diagnosis (usually reluctantly), then they have to play catch up to try

> to stop the disease and the damage it has caused. What a crazy system. And

> the reason for this, is that most doctors don't take the time to " listen " to

> us. They will " hear " our symptoms, but not take the time to put all pieces

> of the puzzle together and come up with a working diagnosis. Most of us

> don't fit into those nice neat cubby holes of disease symptoms that the docs

> all learned in medical school and because of insurance, HMO's and Medicare

> cuts, can't take the time to sit down and really put some thinking into these

> cases. Kinda sad, all the money and time spent on medical training, only to

> have practice cookie cutter medicine. Of course, the loser in this whole

> scenario is the patient who is being sent from doctor to doctor, test to

> test, medication to try to medication to try. Once again, sad situation.

>

> Thanks for listening ladies and thanks again a for the timely article.

> Hope you both have a pain free evening.

>

> Gentle, tender, angel hugs,

>

> Debs in FL

>

>

>