Adalimumab therapy is effective and well-tolerated in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients with a previously inadequate response to anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapies etanercept and infliximab, according to results of research presented today at EULAR 2008, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Paris, France.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/111019.php
Hand Bone Mineral Density Is An Effective Predictor Of Mortality In Rheumatoid Arthritis:
Low bone mineral density in the hand is a valid predictor of overall mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and indicates long-term prognosis, according to a new study presented at EULAR 2008, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France. Digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) demonstrated bone mineral density to be as effective predicting mortality as well-established means of assessment such as radiographic damage and functional disability.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/111032.php
New Data Demonstrates Joint Damage Is Inhibited With Wyeth's Biologic Enbrel(R) Plus Methotrexate In Patients With Early Active Rheumatoid Arthritis:
Study Results Provide Further Evidence That Early Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis With Enbrel(R) Plus Methotrexate in Moderate to Severe Patients can Stop the Disease From Progressing, and Helps Patients Return to More Normal and Productive Lives
Data presented today show that 80% of patients with early active rheumatoid arthritis achieved radiographic remission (or non-progression defined as a change in TSS is less than or equal to 0.5) at one year when treated with Enbrel (etanercept) and methotrexate, compared to 59% when treated with methotrexate alone(1). COMET* (COmbination of Methotrexate and ETanercept in Active Early Rheumatoid Arthritis) is the first major trial to use remission as its primary endpoint in patients with early active rheumatoid arthritis treated with a biologic. Data from the landmark COMET study were presented at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual Meeting in Paris.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/111036.php
Biological Medicine Helps More People With Rheumatoid Arthritis:
Patients who have recently developed rheumatoid arthritis respond better to treatment with biological medicine in combination with conventional pharmacological medicine. This according to results of the Swefot national clinical study, which is to be presented at an international rheumatology congress in Paris by scientists from Swedish Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, who conducted the study in association with another 15 rheumatology units in Sweden.
Some 60,000 people in Sweden have rheumatoid arthritis, and another 1,500 develop the disease every year. The symptoms are swollen, tender joints and impaired mobility. Some patients respond poorly to medical treatment and/or develop side effects. The Swefot study, which was launched in 2002, shows that a certain combination of pharmacological medicines and new biological medicines is more efficacious on these patients.
"After the disease has been confirmed in a patient, we start by treating it with Methotrexate, MTX," says Ronald van Vollenhoven, Associate Professor and Senior Physician, and member of the study's steering committee. "But for the group of patients who don't respond well to MTX, it's more effective to add a biological medicine than to combine MTX with an older drug."
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/111039.php
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