Read up on Rheumatoid arthritis treatment options at Consumer Reports Health.

Rheumatoid arthritis

Key points about treatments

Rheumatoid arthritis makes your joints swollen and painful. It often starts with the joints in your fingers feeling stiff. It is an unpredictable disease, and it's hard to say how it will affect you. For most people, the symptoms come and go. In others, they get slowly worse.

But there are treatments that can reduce the swelling, pain and damage caused by rheumatoid arthritis. These treatments help many people lead active lives.

Source:
Hamilton J, McInnes IB, Thomson EA, et al.
Comparative study of intramuscular gold and methotrexate in a rheumatoid arthritis population from a socially deprived area.
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 2001; 60: 566-572.

Key points about treating rheumatoid arthritis

Drugs can keep your joints from wearing down and help to ease your pain and swelling. These are called disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (or DMARDs for short).
If you start taking these drugs early on, they may slow your disease and stop your joints from wearing down. But you may need to take them for years.
The first drug you're likely to take is called methotrexate. If your disease continues getting worse, you may need to take other drugs instead, or as well.
Many of these drugs have side effects that stop some people from taking them.
Your doctor also may give you nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs for short). These drugs also help to control the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis. To read more about them, see Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Some people find that changing what they eat and exercising helps their arthritis. To learn more, see Diet and exercise in rheumatoid arthritis.

Sources for the information on this page:

Hamilton J, McInnes IB, Thomson EA, et al.Comparative study of intramuscular gold and methotrexate in a rheumatoid arthritis population from a socially deprived area.Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 2001; 60: 566-572.

This information was last updated on Mar 06, 2009

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
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