New horizons in the medical treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

摘要

To date, the medical management of rheumatoid arthritis has been less than optimal for a significant number of patients. This has been manifested by progressive deformity, functional disability, and increased mortality in these patients. Alternative treatment schedules of currently available drugs, as recently advocated by some investigators and the results of both the preclinical and the applied clinical evaluations of a number of novel pharmacologic therapies are reviewed. Several effective nonpharmacologic treatments have been reported in the last year, and their significance in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis are also discussed.