Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic, chronic inflammatory disease that is manifested in destructive polyarthritis in association with serological evidence of autoreactivity. It is characterized by chronic pain and joint destruction, premature mortality and an elevated risk of disability, with high costs for those suffering from this disease and for society. If this condition is not treated, joint destruction from bone erosion can be expected, as well as progressive inabilities, leading eventually to disability, after a time period that can vary from only a few months to many years, depending on prognostic factors. A serious consequence for those suffering from this disease is the loss of their ability to work, especially in the case of manual workers, since many of them lose their income during the first two years of their illness (1). This situation contrasts with the statement asserting that RA is currently the most common potentially-treatable cause of disability in the western world (2). This might be proven true if treatment would be given to patients during the early stages of the disease – which is recommended in order to change the paradigm of RA therapy toward the immediate application of new effective therapies or schemes combining these therapies.
New agents capable of inducing the remission of this disease have been introduced in clinical practice over the last decade. These include anti-IL1 and anti-IL6 agents, TNFα blockers, B cell depleters and regulators of lymphocyte co-stimulation.
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Galarza-Maldonado, C., Massardo, L., Pons–Estel, B., Cardiel, M.H. (2008). Rheumatoid Arthritis. In: Shoenfeld, Y., Cervera, R., Gershwin, M.E. (eds) Diagnostic Criteria in Autoimmune Diseases. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-285-8_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-285-8_3
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