BOSTON (AP) - A drug used to relieve the symptoms of advanced rheumatoid arthritis also appears to slow or stop the progression of the disease when given in its early stages, a study concludes.
The latest work shows that the drug, called Enbrel, works better than the standard treatment in these patients and carries fewer side-effects. A study directed by Dr. Joan Bathon of Johns Hopkins University tested the medicine on 632 people who had suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for less than three years.
The progression of the disease stopped completely in 72 per cent of the patients getting twice-weekly injections of the drug for one year. By comparison, 60 per cent fared this well when taking methotrexate pills, the older standard medicine.
Those getting methotrexate were twice as likely to experience side-effects bad enough to make them stop taking the drug.
Enbrel works by blocking a natural substance called tumor necrosis factor, which triggers much of the joint inflammation in the disease. Victims of rheumatoid arthritis suffer destruction of bone and cartilage in their joints. It is caused by a misguided attack of the body's immune defences on its own tissue.
The study was published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. Another report in the journal confirmed the effectiveness of the drug Remicade, which also works by blocking tumor necrosis factor, in patients who had the disease for an average of about 10 years.
Some function improved in about half of patients getting both Remicade and methotrexate, suggesting that the treatment repaired some of the damage. The study was directed by Dr. Peter E. Lipsky of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
Enbrel is made by Immunex and Remicade by Centocor. The makers financed both studies.
In a journal editorial, Dr. John H. Kippel of the Arthritis Foundation said all patients with rheumatoid arthritis should take one of these drugs as soon as possible, and there is no clear medical reason to choose one over the other.
© The Canadian Press, 2000
December 13, 2000
Scientists to test 'natural' arthritis drug
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federally funded US researchers are starting one of the first trials of a popular "natural" supplement for arthritis and joint pain, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Monday. The $14 million study will check into whether glucosamine and chondroitin work against osteoarthritis. The two supplements are widely sold as an aid to joint pain, both separately and as a package, but few studies have been done on whether they actually work, "Only a few rather small studies have been
published in the worldwide literature, to-date,' Dr.
Stephen Straus, director of the National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM), said in a statement. "Those short-term, controlled clinical trials suggested that glucosamine is effective in relieving pain and increasing range of motion in patients with osteoarthritis," Straus added. "This major new study will provide compelling answers about the safety and effectiveness of glucosamine and/or chondroitin, to the nearly 40 million Americans who suffer with osteoarthritis." The NCCAM, one of the National Institutes of
Health, will pay for the University of Utah and
various other centers around the country study of
1,500 people.
