Rheumatoid arthritis is an incurable disease. Treatment aims to minimize the patient's complaints, reduce inflammation and prevent the development of deformation, and increase the person's working capacity.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an incurable disease. Treatment aims to minimize the patient’s complaints, reduce inflammation and prevent the development of deformation, and increase the person’s working capacity.
Some drugs help prevent the development of deformity in patients diagnosed at an early stage.
Medications used to treat rheumatoid arthritis include:
- NSAID: Not enough for long-term treatment of the disease. They contribute to reducing joint pain, reducing swelling and improving joint functions. It should be used with caution in diseases such as stomach ulcers and gastritis.
- Corticosteroids: Not usually used alone. It is used to reduce joint swelling, relieve inflammation and relieve pain until the therapeutic effects of DMARDs appear. Sometimes intra-articular injections can be made.
- DMARDs are disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. They are the main drugs of the disease. Elimination of signs and symptoms in the long term provides prevention of disease development. It may take several months for them to show their effects. Examples of drugs used for this purpose are cyclosporine, D-penicillamine, gold dust, leflunamide, methotrexate, minocycline and sulfosalazine. These drugs can have toxic effects on the liver, kidneys, lungs and eyes.
- Malaria drugs: Malaria drugs such as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine can be used in addition to DMARDs. May have toxic effects on eyes.
- Biological drugs: It is aimed to prevent inflammation in the joints. For this purpose, TNF blockers (etanercept, infliximab, adalimumab etc.), interleukin-1 blockers (anakinra) or CD-20 antibody (rituximab) can be used.
- JAK Inhibitors: These are drugs used in adult patients who cannot take DMARDs or biologic drugs. It is often used in combination with methotrexate.
- Supportive treatments: Weight loss, improvement of the workplace environment, physiotherapy, foot care treatments can be given in addition to other drugs.
- Surgical treatment: Finger and hand, wrist surgery, arthroscopy, prosthesis treatment (joint replacement) may be required, especially in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and advanced complaints and findings.
- Nutrition: A nutrition program based on unsaturated fats such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, beans, grains, fish and olive oil is recommended.
- Complementary therapy: Complementary medicine applications such as acupuncture, osteopathy, massage can be tried to help the main treatment. However, it is not effective on its own.