Patients with rheumatoid arthritis may be able to benefit from a new generation of 'smart drugs', which slow the progression of the disease and reduce symptoms by up to 50 per cent.
The painful autoimmune disease affects around 400,000 people in the UK, causing inflammation and swelling of the joints.
The new treatments, MabThera, Tocilizumab and Orencia, target areas of the immune system, protecting the body's joints from further attack.
However, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has not yet approved the treatments, meaning that patients must seek private treatment rather than obtaining the drugs free on the NHS.
Researchers from the Medical University of Vienna wrote in the Lancet that the drugs represented "a new era…in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis", while British specialist Paul Emery described them as "strikingly effective".
Two of the drugs, MabThera and Orencia, have now been licensed for use, but Nice is still reviewing the treatments for use on the NHS.
© Adfero Ltd
The painful autoimmune disease affects around 400,000 people in the UK, causing inflammation and swelling of the joints.
The new treatments, MabThera, Tocilizumab and Orencia, target areas of the immune system, protecting the body's joints from further attack.
However, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has not yet approved the treatments, meaning that patients must seek private treatment rather than obtaining the drugs free on the NHS.
Researchers from the Medical University of Vienna wrote in the Lancet that the drugs represented "a new era…in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis", while British specialist Paul Emery described them as "strikingly effective".
Two of the drugs, MabThera and Orencia, have now been licensed for use, but Nice is still reviewing the treatments for use on the NHS.
© Adfero Ltd
Treatment news : 15/06/2007
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