RESEARCH - Early and aggressive RA treatment - results from 11-year trial

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A Recommendation For Early And Aggressive Arthritis Treatment -

Results From 11-Year Trial

MedicalNewsToday.com

Article Date: 25 Jun 2010 - 0:00 PDT

Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) should be used early

and aggressively at the first sign of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The

results of an 11-year trial, published in BioMed Central's open access

journal Arthritis Research & Therapy, demonstrate that active

treatment from the very beginning pays off, even in the long run.

Dr Vappu Rantalaiho, from Tampere University Hospital, Finland, worked

with a team of researchers to study radiologic progression in 195

patients with RA. She said, " Early therapy with combinations of

conventional DMARDs has been shown to retard the radiologic

progression of RA for a period of up to 5 years, but until now the

effects of initial aggressive DMARD therapy on radiologic prognosis

after that were unknown. We've shown that even after 11 years, early

and aggressive therapy achieves excellent results for most patients " .

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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/192855.php

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