Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic immune disorder that attacks the joints, causing pain, swelling and inflammation. The disease is likely caused by the mistaken attack of the joints by the immune system, which primarily protects the health of the body by attacking peculiar substances like viruses and bacteria. Kahlenberg and Fox (2014) indicate that rheumatoid arthritis affects about 1% of the world adults. According to Wilson and Hill (2017), rheumatoid arthritis has a prevalence of 0.46% in Australia, and it mostly affects women aged 35 to 60 years and people over 65 years. To this effect, methods have been devised to curb the effects of the illness. However, despite the benefits that the latest treatment, there are risks concomitant with them. Hence, this paper discusses rheumatoid arthritis providing the risks and benefits of the latest treatment.
Summary of Articles
Burmester and Pope (2017) outline the new strategy for treating rheumatoid arthritis by pointing out the remission method where patients receive prompt and continuous treatment. Also, new insights like the management of the disease and the potential effects of precision medicine are outlined. Moreover, the article provides treatment, problematic access, and difficulty adhering to set principles. On the other hand, Kahlenberg and Fox (2014) provide extensive knowledge of rheumatoid arthritis disorder. They discuss the recent treatment options basing on the understanding of the diseases’ pathology.
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Moreover, they address the use of Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) and biological DMARDs therapy to improve patients’ functioning and reduce destruction. Finally, Wilson and Hill (2017) describe rheumatoid arthritis and the process that leads to joint destruction, pain, disability, deformity, and cardiovascular disease. The authors highlight the disease-modifying drugs together with their benefits and outcomes. Moreover, the authors provide the risks of the drugs and the adverse effects of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.
Synthesizing Articles
Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis comprise the swelling of joints, pain and stiffness together with the enlargement of tendon muscles. Primarily, the symptoms are observed at the knees, wrists, ankles, shoulders, or hips. The effect is felt on both sides and on each pair of joints. The swelling stimulates an influx of immune effector cells in the joint, which further enhances the inflammatory course and rises the possibility of myocardial infarction, stroke, and even death (Wilson & Hill, 2017).
Treatment involves remission at early stages to cure the condition. Moreover, doing a rapid diagnosis and a treat-to-target method with proximity in monitoring and controlling creates remission in patients. Besides, using disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs reduces inflammation (Wilson & Hill, 2017). DMARD has a better understanding of the diseases’ pathology, which has changed its management (Burmester & Pope, 2017) . Additionally, the current treatment is empowering quick access to optimum diagnosis and maintenance and the conversant use of multiple treatments approved for the disease.
Analysis
According to Wilson and Hill (2017), DMARDs inhibit joint erosion and eases pain. Similarly, Burmester and Pope (2017) suggest the use of DMARD therapy to follow the progression of rheumatoid arthritis . The treatment aims to achieve remission or comorbidities and avoid joint damage, which is obtained by the treat-to-target approach. DMARD treatment has grown over the past 30 years.
The currently available drugs include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticoids, DMARDs of synthetic origin, conventional DMARDs such as methotrexate, targeted DMARDs like Janus kinase, biological DMARDs including Tumour Necrosis Factor-inhibitors, costimulation modifiers, interleukin-6-inhibitors, and B-cell depleting drugs (Burmester & Pope, 2017). Similarly, Kahlenberg and Fox (2014) posit that DMARDs are preferable treatment in order to achieve long-term outcomes. Nonetheless, DMARDs lead to stomach upsets among patients by initiating nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Also, Wilson and Hill (2017) hold that DMARDs cause liver and blood problems. DMARDs interfere with the immune system and intensify the possibility of infection since white blood cells that fight infections could be reduced.
Conclusion
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic immune disorder that attacks the joints, causing pain, swelling and inflammation. Treatment involves doing a rapid diagnosis and a treat-to-target method with proximity in monitoring and controlling leads to remission in patients. Additionally, DMARDs and biological DMARDs therapies improve patients’ functioning and lower destruction. Nonetheless, DMARDs lead to stomach upsets, liver, and blood problems due to the increased risk of infection as white blood cells may be decreased.
References
Burmester, G. R., & Pope, J. E. (2017). Novel treatment strategies in rheumatoid arthritis. The Lancet, 389(10086), 2338–2348. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(17)31491-5
Kahlenberg, J. M., & Fox, D. A. (2014). Advances in the Medical Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Hand Clinics, 27(1), 11–20. doi:10.1016/j.hcl.2010.09.002
Wilson, T. D., & Hill, C. L. (2017). Managing the drug treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Australian Prescriber, 40(2), 51–58. doi:10.18773/austprescr.2017.012
