Rheumatoid Arthritis is not just a destructive disease, it causes significant pain. In UK there are about 350,000 sufferers. The disease develops when the immune system  or defense mechanism turns on the body itself and attacks joints. The joints become swollen, painful and stiff. In time this dreadful disease can leave a person with deformed joints.

There are many drugs available for relief and control. However, pain from rheumatoid arthritis can be debilitating. A new group of drugs called anti-TNF (Tumour Necrotic Factor) has proven effective in treating Rheumatoid Arthritis by blocking TNF, a protein found in excess in the blood and joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

One anti-TNF drug is Humira. This drug has to be given by injection once every two weeks at a clinic but a new pen device, recently approved by the NHS, allows patients to self inject. The device is small enough to fit inside a pocket and is fitted with a needle hidden inside.  To use the pen device, you position the pen at the site of the injection usually on the stomach or thigh area and press the button. This releases the needle which then pierces the skin and the humira in delivered. A yellow indicator shows that all the drug has been injected. The device in not much different from the pen device used by diabetics or ones used for urgent delivery of adrenaline.

“The pen has made treatment so much easier. It is designed so there is no worries about patients administering it in the wrong way.” Said Janet Williams, Rheumatology nurse at St. Helen’s Hospital, Merseyside.

A 36 year old, Julie Smyth, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 20. She used a variety of drugs and had both shoulders and knees replaced. Four months before her planned wedding, her disease flared up. She was worried she could not walk up the aisle. She was about to cancel her wedding. Doctors decided to treat her with humira via the pen device.

“After just one injection, I noticed a big improvement,” she siad, “I couldn’t believe how quickly I responded. My wedding day was wonderful”

In the UK the pen is only dispensed by the hospital and only through your consultant rheumatologist.

Arthritis Treatment

Rheumatoid Arthritis

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 9:03 am and is filed under Rheumatoid Arthritis, Arthritis Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.