The Food and Drink Administration (FDA), an organisation which protects the wellness of consumers in the USA, has just approved the use of a new drug to help arthritis sufferers. This new drug is called Pfizer’s Xeljanz (tofacitinib) and is different to anything used in arthritis treatment to date.
This could be used for long-term arthritis sufferers who are not responding to typical treatment – for example, if you have been prescribed methotrexate (the usual treatment for rheumatoid arthritis) and have not found that it is having a positive effect. The new drug comes in pill format and has to be taken twice a day.
This gives new options previously unavailable, to help the wellbeing of those suffering from the debilitating disease, rheumatoid arthritis. Sufferers who have previously not had a very good success rate with the typical drugs will welcome this opportunity to try something new.
In fact, as many as 70 percent of patients who are on the methotrexate drug actually stop responding to it eventually, leaving them with very few places to turn in their search to beat the horrible pain caused by inflammation and swelling of the joints. Arthritis is a condition that 1.5 million Americans suffer from.
The new drug, Xeljanz, does have some downsides, though. Due to the fact that it inhibits immune responses, the drug will increase your risk of getting serious infections and of contracting certain types of cancers and lymphoma. It also increases the cholesterol levels in the body and increases liver enzyme levels as well as lowering blood counts. For all these reasons, packs of the pills will come with a strongly-worded warning about the serious side effects and some safety information to help the sufferer to make a decision about taking this treatment. Other, less serious, side effects are common, such as headaches and diarrhoea.
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