According to the January 2012 issue of Rheumatology News, a respected doctor from Manchester, England suggests taking the drug Zofran (ondansetron) 2 hours before methotrexate and again 12 hours after the methotrexate dose. Zofran is a serotonin receptor antagonist used to treat nausea. Patients who experience nausea following methotrexate typically begin to feel poorly 12 hours after the dose and the nausea can last up to 72 hours. If nausea is a problem for you, discuss Zofran with your doctor.
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Most often, we talk about what you should be doing to best manage your arthritis. We aim to help you learn about the disease, treatment options, and coping techniques. It's difficult to live with a chronic disease, such as arthritis. Even with the best of intentions, it's possible to fall off course with your treatment regimen, to develop bad habits which negatively impact the disease, or to become frustrated.
According to a study published online May 30, 2012 in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, gout patients who eat purine-rich foods can be 5-fold more likely to have gout attacks. Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine asked 633 gout patients to record their symptoms, medications, and intake of purine-rich foods in the two-day period that preceded a gout attack. The risk of gout attacks rose with increasing total purine intake. The increased risk was lower for purine intake from plant sources compared to purine intake from animal sources.
According to Rheumatology News, men with rheumatoid arthritis have two-thirds greater risk of developing erectile dysfunction compared to men without the disease. The study results, which were the first to show the association, were initially published in a letter in the January 4, 2012 Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. The study included men between the age of 18 and 80, who were first diagnosed with erectile dysfunction between 2001-2009. They were compared to more than 37,000 control patients.
Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham used U.S. Medicaid data from 2000 to 2005 to compare the incidence of bacterial infection in children with and without juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). It was determined that children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis have higher rates of hospitalization for bacterial infection than children without juvenile idiopathic arthritis. The risk of bacterial infection significantly increased with the use of high-dose glucocorticoids (10 mg. prednisone or more daily), but the use of methotrexate or TNF blockers was not found to increase the risk of bacterial infection among children with JIA.
Results from the ADACTA trial have revealed that adults with rheumatoid arthritis, who were being treated with Actemra (tocilizumab) as monotherapy (single drug therapy without other DMARDs), had greater improvement in disease activity after 24 weeks compared to patients receiving Humira (adalimumab) as monotherapy. About one in three rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with biologics receive the drugs as monotherapy, largely due to an intolerance to methotrexate. According to the study results presented at EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism), as monotherapy, Actemra was more effective than Humira for producing DAS28 remission, improvement in joint pain and swelling, and a better quality of life.
Driving. Most people don't give it a second thought, other than to keep a sharp eye on traffic. But, for some people with arthritis, driving can be difficult. Joint pain and physical limitations can make it more difficult to get in and out of your car, to start your car, and to turn your head when checking that you are clear to back up.