Doctors Available to Comment on Research Showing Treatments for RA

Newswise — New research published today in the November 2005 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism should offer hope to the more than two million Americans suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) -- more than 75% of whom are women. A study conducted by researchers in the Netherlands sheds light on the best treatment strategy for a patient newly diagnosed with RA.

The study, which compared the four most commonly prescribed treatment strategies for early RA, showed that all four treatments resulted in measurable improvements in patients. However, those patients who received initial combination therapy had less disease progression and joint damage than the patients who received disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) alone or step-up combination therapy.

"The study's main message for patients is that RA needs to be diagnosed early and treated early and actively, and with medications capable of stopping joint damage. This study is supportive of early combination therapy, but more research is still needed," said Theodore R. Fields, MD, FACP, clinical director of the Gosden-Robinson Early Arthritis Center (EAC) at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and Joseph A. Markenson, MD, director of rheumatoid arthritis clinical trials at HSS, in a joint statement.

The following doctors from the Gosden-Robinson Early Arthritis Center at HSS are available to comment on this study and other early RA treatments:

Theodore R. Fields, MD, FACPClinical Director, Gosden-Robinson Early Arthritis Center at Hospital for Special Surgery

Stephen DiMartino, MDAssociate Clinical Director, Gosden-Robinson Early Arthritis Center at Hospital for Special Surgery

Melanie Harrison, MDResearch Director, Gosden-Robinson Early Arthritis Center at Hospital for Special Surgery

Joseph A. Markenson, MDAttending Physician, Hospital for Special Surgery

Stephen Paget, MD, FACP, FACRPhysician-in-Chief of the Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Hospital for Special Surgery

The Gosden-Robinson Early Arthritis Center (EAC) at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) was founded to promote the early diagnosis and treatment of arthritis and to support research efforts to determine more effective treatment and prevention strategies. The EAC connects patients quickly and efficiently with a rheumatologist who can evaluate joint pain and start an appropriate course of treatment. The patient's primary care physician is kept fully advised of findings and recommendations. HSS was recently ranked the number 2 in rheumatology in the annual "Best Hospitals" issue of U.S. News & World Report.

Results of the study can be found at: http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/arthritis