Second Time's a Charm for Arthritis Treatment

The future may seem bleak for some arthritis patients for whom treatment with the drug methotrexate fails. A new study, however, offers some hope. Researchers from Austria report finding that for some patients, a second course of treatment with the commonly used medication can be successful.

Physicians from the Medical University of Vienna recruited 79 patients who had ceased treatment with methotrexate due to lack of response or adverse effects and who then tried the treatment again for at least a year. More than half of the patients reported success after trying the drug for a second time. Of those who stopped the first time because of ineffectiveness, 45 percent showed success the second time, and nearly 67 percent of those who originally had adverse effects showed improvement with the repeat treatment.

Those patients who used low dose methotrexate the first time showed the highest percentage of improvement.

Researchers say, "Reconsidering the use of methotrexate seems to be a rational approach if there was no major toxicity during the previous course of methotrexate." They add, "This therapeutic option may be valuable in patients whom other therapies, especially biologicals, cannot be used or have proven insufficiently effective."

According to the Arthritis Foundation, in 2005, nearly 43 million Americans were suffering from diagnosed arthritis. Arthritis is one of the most prevalent chronic health problems and the nation's leading cause of disability among Americans over age 15.

SOURCE: Arthritis Research and Therapy, 2006;8:R46