Biological therapies against rheumatoid arthritis

• April 27, 2024

The outlook for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is very encouraging thanks to the research and development of new treatments , particularly the so-called biological that inhibit the progression of joint damage by blocking the effect of IL-6 (interleukin 6). That administered in the right patient, you can achieve remission of the disease , that is to say, a control of symptoms in the patient that allows him to recover his quality of life and productivity, since if the RA is not treated it becomes incapacitating, assured Dr. Juan Manuel Miranda Limón , specialist in Rheumatology.

Among the therapeutic options we have specialists to treat rheumatoid arthritis are the callsbiological therapies that imply benefits in thequality of life of patients ", explained Dr. Juan Manuel Miranda Limón.

"The biological treatments have been designed to block or inhibit specific cells or substances that participate in the development of the disease. These drugs have played a key role in the management of the disease and currently patients under this treatment scheme have slowed the progression of arthritis. "

Interviewed after the Mexican-Canadian Congress of Rheumatology held in Cancun, Quintana Roo, the expert explained that at this academic meeting the most recent advances for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis were addressed. "Year after year, new results emerge, in particular, those that provide clinical evidence of efficacy and patient safety," he said.

When abounding on the disease, the expert explained that it is a condition that it affects to almost 1% of the general population . "It is very important to make clear, that the AR still has no cure , so not treated in a timely manner is a important cause of disability ”.

According to Dr. Juan Manuel Miranda Limón , rheumatoid arthritis even it affects family income considerably because it affects people economically active, before which achieving the remission of the disease is a cornerstone in the treatment.

Tocilizumab a new treatment

About the treatments and biological therapies , the also researcher on rheumatic diseases , explained that in the Mexican-Canadian Congress of Rheumatology it was said that "among the most recent therapies it stands out Tocilizumab which is a new medicine that acts inhibiting a substance called Interleukin-6 ”.

The previous one is key in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), since Interleukin-6 is very high in patients with RA and is associated with factors of bad prognosis as the joint destruction and with various manifestations of this disease in other organs than the joints.

"The evidence of this treatment has been presented in national and international congresses in which the percentage of treated patients who have reached the remission of the disease , in addition to the speed of action of this medicine, because from the second week of its application has proven to have an impact not only on symptom joints but also in the manifestations as anemia and fatigue, common in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, "said Doctor Juan Manuel Miranda Limón.

To an express question, the expert explained that the remission of the disease it is established as a state in which the progress of the disease is slowed down and, therefore, reduced at least the associated signs and symptoms like pain and inflammation. "All this must be corroborated by laboratory studies that help evaluate this state as C-reactive protein (CRP)."

Other weapons -he added- are useful standardized tools to determine if the patient with RA is in remission or in the opposite case, what is the level of progression activity which can be from mild, moderate or severe known as Disease Activity Score (DAS28).

It has been proven that one third of patients with Tocilizumab they reached total remission at 24 weeks and at 52 weeks more than half of the patients have achieved remission: Two out of three patients are in remission at two years.

Video Medicine: Novel Treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis (April 2024).