Via practica 1/2010

Pharmacotherapy of rheumatoid arthritis I. – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, DMARDs

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease of joints with various extraarticular manifestations. The pharmacological treatment of RA is represented by combination of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, low dose of glucocorticoids and diseasemodifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). DMARDs cause clinical improvement, improvement in joint symptoms, delaying or preventing joint destruction. The most effective drugs are methotrexate, leflunomide, sulfasalazin, gold salts, azatioprine and less effective hydroxychloroquine. All of these drugs have side-effects and require careful monitoring. Besides traditional DMARDs there are available better options, mainly biological therapy.

Keywords: rheumatoid arthritis, treatment, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, disease modifying antirheumatic drugs