Posted on 07/24/2022 6:41:25 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Initiating early treatment benefits patients who have not fully developed rheumatoid arthritis, but who are manifesting preliminary stages of the disease, researchers have reported. By temporarily prescribing methotrexate in the "pre-rheumatic phase," patients suffer from reduced long-term joint inflammations, pain and physical limitations.
"At present, methotrexate is only prescribed to the patient following a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis," explains Annette van der Helm, Professor. "But that is too late. By then, the disease is already considered chronic." The researchers hope to prevent or reduce disease burden by giving methotrexate to patients likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis.
Although early treatment did not completely prevent the development of rheumatoid arthritis, the research group found that diagnosis was delayed. Furthermore, the patient group that had been temporarily prescribed methotrexate endured less pain, morning stiffness and daily functioning impediments. MRI scans also showed fewer joint inflammations. "This is an important step towards reducing disease burden for this group of patients," says Van der Helm. Moreover, it serves as initial evidence for initiating treatment in the 'pre-rheumatic' phase."
The study included more than 230 patients. "All suffered from joint pain and inflammation, which could be seen on the MRI, and was thought to be a rheumatism precursor," says Doortje Krijbolder. However, rheumatologists do not know for certain whether this is truly the case. Pre-rheumatoid patients were treated with methotrexate or a placebo for one year. Another one year follow-up enabled researchers to see if the effects of the treatment persisted.
Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common autoimmune disease worldwide. It causes the immune system to attack the joints. Usual treatment only suppresses the disease. "This chronic disease is extremely burdensome to patients and their families. Our study is paving the way toward arthritis prevention," says Van der Helm.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Whatever you do friends, don’t let anybody you love take HUMIRA® (adalimumab) injections, Humira killed my wife.
Oct. 27, 2018
Wow....methotrexate has a lot of side effects. More than Humira. Requires lab monitoring as long term use / high doses can damage the liver and bone marrow.....
OMG...
I was taking that crap...
My body started throwing blood clots all over, and at random..
Stumped the entire cardiology department of the hospital.
I had a stroke and a PE..
Out of despiration, I was sent to an oncologist.
This person discovered that it was the Humana..
I stopped using it, and everything went away...
Guess I was lucky
A good friend of mine was taking methotrexate. Not good. He went from a fairly good tennis and squash player to not playing at all to not living at all. Hard to second guess but these drugs have a lot of issues.
“Whatever you do friends, don’t let anybody you love take HUMIRA® (adalimumab) injections, Humira killed my wife.”
two close friends for 45 years have been using Humira almost since it came on the market: one for rheumatoid arthritis and one for psoriatic arthritis, and it’s been a miracle drug for both of them ...
Isn't that the truth. My husband has lung fibrosis caused by taking methotrexate for over 20 years. Had blood work done every 6 months.
two close friends for 45 years have been using Humira almost since it came on the market: one for rheumatoid arthritis and one for psoriatic arthritis, and it’s been a miracle drug for both of them
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Good for them and I’m sincere when I say that too.
My wife was taking the injection once a week for about six months and it did make a positive difference in her pain levels before it killed her.
People are different in how they tolerate different drugs and we did read the warning labels and did read all the possible side effects, including, “could be fatal”.
A few years prior to the Humira, her doctor slapped a fentanyl patch on her shoulder, within 24 hours the pain was almost gone, within 48 hours she was showing signs of paranoia, after three days she was full blown paranoid schizophrenic and I took the patch off her arm, within two days she returned to normal and the pain was back.
https://www.roadback.org/
I started with the antibiotic protocol (see Roadback.org) on my RA journey and it did help significantly. I’ve evolved to using diet (low carb/keto and intermittent fasting) to control my RA.
I did have a significant Jarisch–Herxheimer effect when i started the antibiotic protocol. The first Rheumatologist that I saw after i did my research on the Antibiotic protocol said he didn’t recommend it since he had tried it on other patients and it made them sick/worse….to which i now say…yeah it made them sick, but it is worth it since it is temporary. The theory is that the antibiotics are killing off the microorganisms and it is overwhelming your bodies ability to clear out the toxins. You just have to manage the Herx response better.
You say Keto and intermittent fasting are now able to keep it under control. This makes some sense to me, as high carb eating (without keeping the intake at a level your body can use up as energy) increases inflammation. The inflammation is from a dysfunction and causes more dysfunctions. Your link describes an inability for cells to respond properly to infection, which appears to have testable infectious entities that are higher than normal with those having such autoimmune disorders.
Yep, but so the the diseases that people get put on them have...
”Oral methotrexate has been used with great success in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis for the past 50 years.”
Review J Clin Gastrenterol (PubMed.gov / NIH)
. 2005 Oct;39(9):751-6. doi: 10.1097/01.mcg.0000177249.46130.a3. Low-dose oral methotrexate for maintaining Crohn's disease remission: where we stand
John H Sun 1 , Kiron M Das Affiliations expand PMID: 16145336 DOI: 10.1097/01.mcg.0000177249.46130.a3
However, regardless of its wide use and acceptance, it stands a good chance of either being outlawed completely - in some states, or doctors who have prescribed it for decades will be persuaded to cease using it for their patients. All because...(gasp!)
Methotrexate is an abortifacient and it is used to treat ectopic pregnancies, provided the fallopian tube has not ruptured.[4][25] Methotrexate with dilation and curettage is used to treat molar pregnancy. Rarely, it is used in combination with mifepristone to abort uterine pregnancies.[26]
The horror.
That misuse of the drug (as baby-poison) is not exactly rare.
Legitimate uses of drugs continue even when illegitimate or dangerous uses are prohibited.
Thalidomide, for example, is a very useful drug for a variety of diseases. It's just never given to women who are or are trying to become pregnant.
Legitimate uses of drugs continue even when illegitimate or dangerous uses are prohibited.
Agree. Unfortunately there are women who have been denied their normal methotrexate prescription (for RA, lupus), since it can be used to induce abortion, and because they are at an age and considered “viably fertile.”
State abortion bans may limit access to drug used to treat lupus and cancer
”The Lupus Foundation of America, Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, and Arthritis Foundation, have issued statements about the emerging issue, and the latter group set up a hotline (1-800-283-7800) for patients who have had problems accessing methotrexate. In addition, the American College of Rheumatology announced that it had assembled a task force to investigate the scope of the problem and has asked that patients who experience challenges in filling their prescriptions email advocacy@rheumatology.org with details.
Hooray if this leads in the right direction! Such a simple method of stalling progression to diagnosis. C.D., can you remind me which blood test is used to diagnose RA? And if one doesn’t have the genetic inheritance, can one still develop it?
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