Pfizer drug meets rheumatoid arthritis study goals
NEW YORK
Drug developer Pfizer Inc. said Friday its potential rheumatoid arthritis drug met its key treatment goals in a late-stage study.
The company said the drug tofacitinib, formerly called tasocitinib, met its key goals of reducing signs and symptoms of the condition in a six-month period. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease typically affecting joints.
Tofacitinib is a key developing drug for Pfizer and is also being studied as a potential treatment for psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, and renal transplant. A topical version of the drug is being studied as a psoriasis treatment and a dry eye disease treatment.
Pfizer said a full analysis of the data will be submitted to a future scientific meeting.
In early trading Friday, Pfizer shares were down 2 cents to $19.75.
Article source: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LOGK580.htm
What Is Arthritis? What Are The Common Types Of Arthritis?
Because arthritis has impacted lots of individuals from around the globe irrespective of age, with this it’s important to understand what is arthritis and what are the symptoms and what can cause it.
Arthritis is well known as inflammation of one or two joints. Usually, it’s associated with joint pain. Arthritis comes in many different kinds, you will find over hundred of recognized types of arthritis, and then the number keeps growing. This disease may cause pain, stiffness in addition to swelling in the joints in any parts of the body. Some type of arthritis may impact other areas of the body for example bones, muscles and internal organs which might lead to incapacitating, even life-threatening problems.
Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are the 2 most commonly encountered types of arthritis. Arthritis is a ailment that could affect anyone irrespective of age which includes children. Arthritis is common in older adults. It may cause pain and may hinder patients from taking pleasure on the things they once appreciated.
When arthritis remains undiagnosed and with no treatment, it may result in long term or irreversible injury to the joints, bones, organs, and skin.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is usually known as a degenerative osteoarthritis that is triggered by wear and tear. Joints could be actually damaged in addition to its surrounding tissues because of the pressure of gravity and therefore results in: inflammation, pain, tenderness and minimized function.
Osteoarthritis is non-inflammatory in the beginning and it has a subtle and gradual onset that usually entails one or only a few joints. The knees, hips, hands and spine are the joints which are mainly impacted. Much like other forms of arthritis, the chance of osteoarthritis escalate with age. Weight problems, joint trauma and repetitive joint use are also risk factors of osteoarthritis.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is definitely an autoimmune disease that is chronic and possibly crippling. It occurs when the body’s defense mechanisms is misdirected and incorrectly attacks the cell lining within the joint called synovium. This kind of arthritis may cause stiffness in the joint, pain, swelling and loss of joint function.
Although cause end up being hard to resolve, health professionals believe that genetics play a huge role. Rheumatoid arthritis can start progressively with subtle symptoms which makes it hard to diagnose early.
Juvenile Arthritis
Juvenile arthritis represents any type of arthritis which occurs in youngsters. This is common in youngsters and this comes in three main types: polyarticular which impacts many joints, pauciarticular which relates to just a few joints and systemic which impacts the entire body. The signs or symptoms may vary from one child to another. Simply because no single test can effectively set up a diagnosis, the Juvenile arthritis ought to be regularly existing for six or more successive weeks just before a proper diagnosis can be created.
Psoriatic Arthritis
Psoriatic Arthritis can be compared to rheumatoid arthritis. Medical studies report that roughly 5 percent of individuals with chronic skin disease for example psoriasis develop psoriatic arthritis. In this kind of arthritis, an individual are affected from joint inflammation and often inflammation of the spine.
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia syndrome is an unpleasant condition indicated by poor sleep, muscle pain and persistent fatigue. Fibromyalgia suggests pain in the muscles, ligaments and tendons, a kind of soft tissue or muscular rheumatism which doesn’t trigger deformities in the joints.
Gout
Gout is a type of arthritis that is unpleasant and could trigger unexpected and serious attacks of pain, redness, warmth, joint inflammation specially the big toe. Uric acid crystals that precipitate out of the blood and are generally deposited in the joint are accountable for creating pain and inflammation.
You may still find other common kinds of arthritis and they’re Pseudogout, Scleroderma, lupus and more. To remain from suffering from arthritis all that’s necessary is to find out more regarding arthritis, arthritis symptoms, factors that cause arthritis as well as natural arthritis cures.
Health Tip: What Causes Arthritis Pain?
Here are contributing factors
(HealthDay News) — It’s no secret to any person with arthritis that pain comes with the territory.
But what makes arthritis so painful? The Arthritis Foundation offers this list of contributing factors:
- Arthritis causes painful inflammation (swelling) of the joints.
- Arthritis — over time — damages joint tissue, causing additional pain.
- Arthritis leads to a feeling of fatigue, which makes pain feel worse and more difficult to manage.
- Arthritis can lead to symptoms of stress or depression, making you focus more on pain and lament not being able to do the things you once enjoyed.
– Diana Kohnle
Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Article source: http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/649298.html
Drugs for rheumatoid arthritis work wonders. So why don’t all patients take them?
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that progresses from joint pain to joint destruction and disfigurement. But that progression can be dramatically slowed by a class of medications called disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, or DMARDs for short. If started early, these drugs can preserve patients’ joints for years, allowing them to continue working and improving their overall quality of life.
So why aren’t all RA patients taking them?
That’s a question that a group of researchers from Stanford, Brown, Harvard and UC San Francisco set out to answer.
They looked at four years’ worth of data on more than 93,000 RA patients from around the country who were enrolled in Medicare managed care plans. Between 2005 and 2008, the proportion of patients who took DMARDs ranged from 59% to 67%. But the one-third or more of patients who didn’t get the drugs wasn’t spread randomly across the country. In fact, the researchers noted several groups of patients that were less likely to get the dugs.
Among them:
Patients who were at least 85 years old – about 42% of them used the drugs, compared with 72% of Medicare beneficiaries between age 65 and 69.
Men – 61% of them used the drugs, compared with 64% of women.
Nonwhite patients – nearly 57% of black patients and 58% of patients whose race was described as “other” used the drugs, compared with 64% of white patients.
Low-income patients – 55% of them used the drugs, compared with 64% of patients who were not low-income.
Patients who lived in certain parts of the East Coast – about 52% of patients in the South Atlantic region got the drugs, along with 59% of patients from the Middle Atlantic. By contrast, 67% of patients in the Pacific region got them.
Patients who lived in areas with a doctor shortage – 62% of those patients got the drugs, compared with more than 67% of patients who had access to plenty of doctors.
The study is the first to look at patterns of DMARD drug use across the entire country, according to the researchers. Though a substantial proportion of patients aren’t taking them, it’s hard to know how much lower that number should be. For instance, some patients may not be able to take the drugs because they cause dangerous interactions with other medications that they need to address more pressing health problems. That might help explain the particularly low use among the oldest patients in the survey, the researchers said.
Cost is almost certainly a factor, but the researchers couldn’t nail that down because they couldn’t tell what kind of prescription drug coverage the patients had. They noted that some of the 17 DMARDs can cost more than $4,000 per year, while others cost less than $1,000. Even with that price tag, however, the copayments may be too high for some patients.
“Given the enormous individual and societal costs associated with rheumatoid arthritis, and increasing substantial evidence that DMARDs can reduce these costs, variations in DMARD receipt based on demographics, socioeconomic status, and geography are unacceptable,” they concluded.
The study was published in Wednesday’s edition of the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
Article source: http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-rheumatoid-arthritis-drugs-20110202,0,2590438.story
Arthritis: a tough dance partner
The 25-year-old radio journalist has a condition called rheumatoid arthritis, which on her best days does not affect her at all, and on her worst, leaves her immobile or wheelchair-bound.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects the lining of joints, making them inflamed and swollen.
Despite this, Davis recently won the under-40 title at the 2010 Abbott Dance for Life Competition, and holds a BA in drama and an honours degree in journalism.
Dance has always been her passion.
“I danced from the age of six, and I wanted to study dance after matric. I had these terrible aches after dancing, but doctors diagnosed it as growing pains. In my matric year, the pain got worse and I went to a physician. The tests were positive for rheumatoid arthritis and I stopped dancing immediately,” she says.
She was not able to walk for most of her matric year: “I had to be carried, or I was in wheelchairs or on crutches.
“But I decided to do my bachelor’s degree in drama at the University of Stellenbosch even though it was a huge challenge.
“At times I couldn’t walk or hold a pen, and people thought I would fail. Drama is very taxing and there are a lot of movement classes, long hours and rehearsals. I did struggle, but I succeeded.
“Maybe it was to prove to myself and others that people who have limitations can do anything they want,” she says.
With cabaret, television and radio presenting as major subjects, Davis decided to pursue journalism, too.
“It’s difficult, because at least twice a year, I spend a week in hospital and maybe two weeks afterwards in a wheelchair,” she says. “I am still the type of person who wants to do everything while I can, maybe even too much, but when the flare-ups happen, getting out of bed can be a challenge.”
The number of flare-ups has been minimised by a new treatment whereby human stem cells are injected into the joints.
“I have to be on the highest medical aid plan possible to afford it, but it is working. It stops the degeneration of the joints.
“Many people who have RA will see their joints become deformed later in life, but with this treatment that won’t happen. It is a miracle. Since I’ve been on it, I am better for longer periods, and I can do so much more.”
Entrants in the dance competition raised awareness about the treatment – many of them were on it. In fact, some had been in wheelchairs before treatment.
“Meeting all those people in the competition made me realise this disease does not define me,” says Davis. “I used to go and watch dance shows or ballets and sit and cry because I knew in my heart that I should have been on that stage. With this treatment, my heart is becoming whole again.”
Article source: http://www.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/article882792.ece/Arthritis--a-tough-dance-partner