Survival Benefit For Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Treated With Methotrexate (p 1173)April 04, 2002The anticancer drug methotrexate could have a substantial survival benefit among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, conclude authors of a prospective US study in this week's issue of THE LANCET. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease which results in reduced life-expectancy and is associated with cardiovascular disease, infection, and cancer. Low-dose methotrexate is the main choice of antirheumatic therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, although its effect on mortality for patients with the disease is not known. Hyon Choi from Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Frederick Wolfe from University of Kansas School of Medicine, USA, and colleagues prospectively studied 1240 patients with rheumatoid arthritis over the past two decades. 191 individuals died during follow-up. Patients who began treatment with methotrexate (around half of the study population) had more severe rheumatoid arthritis. After adjustment for this confounding factor, methotrexate was found to have a 60% survival benefit for all-cause mortality compared with those who did not use methotrexate, and a 70% survival benefit for cardiovascular death. Hyon Choi comments: "Our data indicate that methotrexate may provide a substantial survival benefit, largely by reducing cardiovascular mortality. This gain in life expectancy could be considered in selecting a cost-effective, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug on a long-term basis. Additionally, the survival benefit of methotrexate would set a standard against which new disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs should be compared." | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Related Arthritis News Articles Study shows pine bark naturally reduces knee osteoarthritis According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, is on the rise. A new study published in the August journal of Phytotherapy Research, reveals Pycnogenol, bark extract from the French maritime pine tree, reduced overall knee osteoarthritis (OA) symptoms by 20.9 percent and lowered pain by 40.3 percent. Loss of sleep, even for a single night, increases inflammation in the body Loss of sleep, even for a few short hours during the night, can prompt one's immune system to turn against healthy tissue and organs. Nearly half of U.S. adults will develop painful knee osteoarthritis by age 85: study Almost half of all U.S. adults and nearly two-thirds of obese adults will develop painful osteoarthritis of the knee by age 85, a study based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests. Cell removal technique could lead to cheaper drugs Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have pioneered a simple way to remove dead cells from cell cultures used to make protein-based drugs, which are increasingly prescribed to treat a range of illnesses. New study shows health benefits of probiotic could extend to the entire body Data from a recent study demonstrate the anti-inflammatory and pathogen protection benefits of Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 a probiotic bacterial strain of human origin. Bone marrow stem cells may help control inflammatory bowel disease Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have found that infusions of a particular bone marrow stem cell appeared to protect gastrointestinal tissue from autoimmune attack in a mouse model. Researchers discover how rheumatoid arthritis causes bone loss Researchers have discovered key details of how rheumatoid arthritis (RA) destroys bone, according to a study published in the Aug. 22 edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. New test to diagnose osteoarthritis early A newly developed medical imaging technology may provide doctors with a long-awaited test for early diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA), scientists from New York reported today at the 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. NIH scientists find a novel mechanism that controls the development of autoimmunity Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found a mechanism in the immune systems of mice that can lead to the development of autoimmune disease when turned off. Protein complementarity may offer new insights into autoimmune diseases The discovery of "complementary" antibodies against plasminogen in patients with blood vessel inflammation caused by anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCAs) may lead to new approaches to research, testing, and treatment of ANCA vasculitis and other autoimmune diseases, suggests a paper in the December Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). More Arthritis News Articles |
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