Re: Harvard Medical School Health Beat

[Guest guest]

Thanks Leanne, it is interesting.

Mama-Sher, 69; IPF, 3-06, OR.Don't fret about tomorrow, God is already there!

Harvard Medical School Health Beat

One of the top medical news stories of 2007:

When it’s under control, inflammation is a normal part of our immune response. But when it gets out of control, inflammation causes disease and pain, and fanning the flames is a protein called tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha).

In the 1990s, researchers genetically engineered a protein that blocks TNF-alpha. The FDA approved the fruits of this labor, etanercept (Enbrel), in 1998.

Now two others — infliximab (Remicade) and adalimumab (Humira) — are on the market, and a third — certolizumab — is waiting in the wings.

The medications have greatly improved the treatment of several inflammatory conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis (a condition that affects the spine and the sacroiliac joints), and Crohn’s disease, a bowel disorder. A combination of a TNF-alpha blocker and methotrexate, a standard antirheumatic drug, is twice as effective as methotrexate alone in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Sales of the TNF-alpha blockers have more than tripled since 2002, according to IMS Health.

The TNF-alpha blockers have serious drawbacks: they’re expensive ($10,000 to $25,000 annually per patient), can result in serious infections, and have been linked to cancer, particularly lymphoma. But by tackling inflammation at its roots, they may be paving the way for a new approach to treating many diseases. In 2007, National Institutes of Health researchers proposed using TNF-alpha inhibition to treat brain diseases with an inflammatory component, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Thought it was interesting...

Leanne uip 1/03 Illinois

listed for single lung transplant 10-12-07

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