ARTICLE - Treating RA early is best

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Arthritis Foundation

Arthritis Today

Arthritis Treatment: Early is Best

Receiving rheumatoid arthritis treatment sooner rather than later may

be your key to remission

A hot topic among rheumatologists lately is whether when you treat

rheumatoid arthritis (RA) matters as much as how you treat it. Some

believe strongly in early arthritis treatment, prescribing an

aggressive regimen of RA drugs during what is called " the window of

opportunity. " Doing so, they maintain, just may stop the disease in

its tracks.

" I am a strong believer in the window of opportunity, which probably

spans two years after symptom onset, " says Salahuddin Kazi, MD,

associate professor of internal medicine and chief of rheumatology at

the Dallas VA Medical Center. " If RA goes untreated for two years, the

majority of people with RA will develop joint erosion, indicating

disease progression. "

" The debate over whether a window of opportunity exists is semantics

to some extent, " says Arthur Kavanaugh, MD, rheumatologist and

director of the Center for Innovative Therapy at the University of

California, San Diego. " Some people don't like the term because people

with active disease can – and should – always be treated, even beyond

the two-year mark. "

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Read the full article here:

http://www.arthritistoday.org/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/ra-treatment/early\

-arthritis-treatment.php

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