{"id":47603,"date":"1999-11-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1999-11-23T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/1999\/11\/23\/results-announced-at-national-meeting-in-boston\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T10:56:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:56:29","slug":"results-announced-at-national-meeting-in-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/1999\/11\/23\/results-announced-at-national-meeting-in-boston\/","title":{"rendered":"Results Announced at National Meeting in Boston:"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/FONT><\/I><\/p>\n


UNMC Researchers Determine Combination Drug Therapy<\/p>\n

Still Most Effective Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis<\/FONT><\/B><\/p>\n

A research study conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center<\/p>\n

and involving 44 rheumatologists in six states has determined that a combination<\/p>\n

of three drugs is still a very effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.<\/p>\n

The results of the study were announced earlier this month at the annual<\/p>\n

meeting of the American College of Rheumatology held in Boston.<\/p>\n

Dr. James O’Dell, professor and chief of the rheumatology section of<\/p>\n

the department of internal medicine at UNMC, served as principal investigator<\/p>\n

for the study, which was actually a follow-up study of a 1996 study reported<\/p>\n

in The New England Journal of Medicine.<\/p>\n

In the 1996 study, it was determined that a combination of three drugs<\/p>\n

methotrexate, sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine was more effective<\/p>\n

in treating rheumatoid arthritis than methotrexate alone or the combination<\/p>\n

of sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine.<\/p>\n

In the current study, the combination three-drug therapy was compared<\/p>\n

to methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine as well as methotrexate and sulfasalazine.<\/p>\n

The two-year, double-blind, randomized study involved 171 patients.<\/p>\n

Neither the patients nor the physicians knew what drug therapy patients<\/p>\n

were receiving.<\/p>\n

Patients were monitored during the study to determine how many experienced<\/p>\n

at least a 20 percent improvement at one year and maintained at least that<\/p>\n

degree of improvement for two years without drug toxicity.<\/p>\n

Results found that 77 percent of patients taking the three-drug combination<\/p>\n

showed at least 20 percent improvement, while only 52 percent of methotrexate\/hydroxychloroquine<\/p>\n

patients realized a 20 percent improvement and 47 percent of methotrexate\/sulfasalazine<\/p>\n

patients experienced a 20 percent improvement.<\/p>\n

“The triple drug therapy has become the most widely used treatment for<\/p>\n

rheumatoid arthritis in the United States and Europe, so the results of<\/p>\n

this study should be reaffirming to the millions of rheumatoid arthritis<\/p>\n

sufferers who are on this combination,” Dr. O’Dell said. “The combination<\/p>\n

therapy is ideal for people who have not done well with previous therapies.<\/p>\n

If patients are doing well on their present single drug therapy, I would<\/p>\n

recommend that they continue on this regimen.”<\/p>\n

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that affects more than<\/p>\n

2 million Americans. It is a chronic disease that causes pain, stiffness,<\/p>\n

swelling and loss of function in the joints and inflammation in other body<\/p>\n

organs. It’s estimated that rheumatoid arthritis results in more than 9<\/p>\n

million physician visits and more than 250,000 hospitalizations per year.<\/p>\n

There is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, so the goal of treatment is<\/p>\n

to achieve remissions or near remissions.<\/p>\n

Patients participating in the study came through the Rheumatoid Arthritis<\/p>\n

Investigational Network (RAIN), a group of 44 rheumatologists and nurse-study<\/p>\n

coordinators located throughout Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota,<\/p>\n

Illinois and California. Founded in 1989, RAIN has the goal of bringing<\/p>\n

rheumatologists at UNMC together with private practice rheumatologists<\/p>\n

who are interested in clinical study. The RAIN home office is located at<\/p>\n

UNMC.<\/p>\n

To find out more about this study, people should call Dr. O’Dell’s office<\/p>\n

at (402) 559-7288.<\/p>\n

UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.<\/p>\n

Through its commitment to research, education, outreach and patient care,<\/p>\n

UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for<\/p>\n

arthritis research, cancer research and treatment and solid organ transplantation.<\/p>\n

Nearly $31 million in research grants and contracts were awarded to UNMC<\/p>\n

scientists during the past fiscal year. In addition, UNMC’s educational<\/p>\n

programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing<\/p>\n

in Nebraska than any other institution.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNMC Researchers Determine Combination Drug Therapy Still Most Effective Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis A research study conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center and involving 44 rheumatologists in six states has determined that a combination of three drugs is still a very effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. The results of the study were announced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nResults Announced at National Meeting in Boston:<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UNMC Researchers Determine Combination Drug Therapy Still Most Effective Treatment for Rheumatoid 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