Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Remission in a person with RA can be defined as the absence of disease activity, such as swollen joints, pain, and stiffness. In the 1980s, when the authors of this book began practicing medicine, physicians approached RA differently than they do today. Back then, physicians were mostly concerned with controlling patients’ symptoms. Patients were treated [...]

Even people with advanced RA can benefit from medical treatment. The treatment benefits can include the following: Reduced joint pain Reduced involvement of other joints Increased mobility Reduced risk for cancer, heart disease, and stroke Joint Pain Even if a joint has undergone considerable erosion and lost some mobility, inflammation can still result in continued [...]

For people with RA, “watchful waiting” is not an appropriate treatment strategy. Medical studies reveal some important facts that demonstrate why early treatment of RA is necessary: The majority of joint destruction occurs in the first two years after disease onset. Significant joint destruction can occur even when the joint is not painful. Joint damage [...]

The goals of RA treatment have evolved in the last decade. In the past, the best that a patient could hope for was decreased pain and stiffness. Today, thanks to more effective drugs and earlier, more aggressive treatment of RA, expectations are much higher. Your doctor’s goals for treatment are multifold: Alleviating joint-related symptoms (such [...]

Rheumatoid arthritis does not appear to have any adverse effects on pregnancy outcome. Some medications used to treat RA have not been thoroughly studied in pregnant women, however, and should be used with caution in this population. How a woman with RA is treated during her pregnancy is a complicated decision that should be made [...]