ABOUT RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Rheumatoid arthritis is a serious autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly produces antibodies that attack the lining of the joints, resulting in inflammation and pain.
Rheumatoid arthritis progresses in three stages. The first stage involves swelling of the synovial lining (lining of the joint), causing pain, warmth, stiffness, redness and swelling around the joint. Second is the rapid division and growth of cells, or pannus, which causes the synovium to thicken. In the third stage, the inflamed cells release enzymes that may digest bone and cartilage, often causing the joint to lose its shape and alignment, and resulting in pain and loss of movement.
Rheumatoid arthritis can start in any joint, but it most commonly begins in the smaller joints of the fingers, hands and wrists. Joint involvement is usually symmetrical, meaning that if a joint hurts on the left hand, the same joint will hurt on the right hand. Frequent flares in disease activity can occur. Rheumatoid arthritis is also a systemic disease, potentially affecting other organs in the body.
There is no uniformly effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and prevention of long-term damage requires indefinite drug therapy. The main options are traditional anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) treatments, such as methotrexate, injectable gold, penicillamine, azathioprine, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, sulfasalazine and oral gold; and biologic modifiers (anti-TNF and non-TNF therapies), including etanercept (Enbrel®), infliximab, adaliumumab and anakinra. However, these treatments are expensive – ranging from about $15,600 to $34,000 per patient per year -- and come with serious side effects, including the possibility of infection and cancer.
According to the National Institutes of Health and The Merck Manual of Health & Aging, respectively, approximately 2.1 million Americans suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, with an estimated 1% of the world population being affected. Navigant Consulting estimates that the rheumatoid arthritis market could grow from $6.2 billion in 2004 to $14.8 billion by the end of 2009. According to MedAd News dated June 2006, sales of biologic treatments in 2005, alone, totaled more than $8.5 billion.
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