Rheumatoid arthritis has been found very hard to treat because we are not sure of the initial causes. But the ultimate goal for anyone with this disease is to be pain free or be in the “remissive” phase. “Remission is defined as having no tender or swollen joints for at least three months and have fewer than 15 minutes of morning stiffness”. While it is rare for patients to achieve spontaneous remission (getting better on your own with no remaining symptoms), partial remission is far more common with the help of treatment. The most recent treatments have been to administer synthetic compounds that mimic the effects of antioxidants like tempol or M40403. With these, the hope is to convert O2 radical to H2O2 at a higher rate, thus getting the destructive chemicals out fast, and doing minimal damage.
I came across an article in the journal of Arthritis and Rheumatism that discussed how important it is to treat very early or at the first signs of rheumatoid arthritis. This study was conducted on 534 early RA diagnosed human subjects that treated and adjusted treatment depending on a Disease Activity Score of 28 different joints. They hoped that by using the “treat-to-target” or adjusting treatments with their pain scale over time could help put more patients into remission earlier. After analyzing the data after a 6-month and 12-month period, they found that with their treatment, 58.1% of the patients went into DAS28 remission after a year. With the help of different scales like the EULAR model, radiographic data and medication, this study showed that “treat-to-target” is a very reachable goal for the clinical setting. By treating a randomized sample, they hoped that this method could be used further for the general public in order to help alleviate the pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/doi/10.1002/art.30494/full
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