U.S. company to resume testing arthritis drug

As all arthritis sufferers are aware, there is a great need for an arthritis drug that really works and continues working. Good news this week is that a US company has been given permission to resume studies on an experimental arthritis drug. The study was halted for a while as you notice in the below article, but it's good to see the necessary investigations were made, and the drug has been cleared of any involvement, so here's hoping further research will uncover a medication that will be of benefit to many.

Article Source: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/90880/6310538.html

Drug developer Targeted Genetics Corp. said Monday it will resume the study of an experimental arthritis drug that was halted in July after the unexpected death of a patient.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the Seattle-based company permission to continue the trial after reviewing information on all 127 patients, including a 36-year-old woman who died a few weeks after receiving the drug.

The woman's family and government scientists have questioned whether a genetically modified virus used when the drug is injected played a role in her death. However, government advisers for the National Institutes of Health said earlier this year that the woman probably died of an unrelated fungal infection.

The company's own investigation reached a similar conclusion earlier this month, noting that only trace amounts of the virus were found in the woman's body.

Fibrin linked to rheumatoid arthritis

Here is a very interesting article I found regarding the link between blood clotting protein and rheumatoid arthritis. Lets hope this leads to more effective medical treatment of this crippling disease.


Source: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/143267.html

"U.S. researchers say the discovery of a link between a blood clotting protein and rheumatoid arthritis could lead to new therapies for the disabling disease.

Jay Degan, a researcher in Developmental Biology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, said inflammatory joint disease appears to be driven by the engagement of inflammatory cells with fibrin matrices through a specific integrin receptor, aMB2.

The report, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggests that therapies designed to interrupt the localized interaction of inflammatory cells and fibrin may help arthritis patients.

"Our study establishes that fibrin is a powerful, although context-dependent, determinant of inflammatory joint disease," Degen, the study's lead author, said Friday in a release.

Arthritis causes major problems in the workplace: Study

Washington: A Canadian study has found that arthritis-related disability takes a major toll on a productivity in the workplace, as it forces workers to change their work hours, the type and nature of work or even lose their job.

The study, which tracked 490 people with osteoarthritis (OA) and inflammatory arthritis (IA) for more than four years, reports that, 63 percent of the participants remained employed, but work changes were common.45 percent reduced their work hours due to arthritis; 52 percent switched their type of work; 18 percent weren't able to seek and accept promotions and job transfers; and 41 percent weren't able to take on additional responsibilities."We know that arthritis can result in people having to leave their jobs. This research focuses our attention on the workplace itself and highlights how common a wide range of work transitions are in the lives of people with arthritis," Monique A.M.

Source: http://www.newkerala.com/oct.php?action=fullnews&id=19257

Therapy Reduces Risk Of Heart Attack By 80% In People With Rheumatoid Arthritis, Study Shows

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that causes pain, stiffness, swelling, and limitation in the motion and function of many joints. An estimated 2.1 million Americans have RA, most of them women. Although joints are the principal body parts affected by RA, inflammation can develop in other organs as well. Heart attacks, resulting from inflammation of the coronary vessels, are more common in RA sufferers.

Researchers recently studied the risk of heart attack in patients using a TNF-inhibitor (a drug that blocks cytokines and can reduce pain, morning stiffness and swollen joints in RA), methotrexate (a drug used to treat RA by blocking the metabolism of cells) and other DMARDs (a category of drugs used in many autoimmune disorders to slow down the disease progression) in a large population of patients with RA many of whom were also taking aspirin.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071109203953.htm

Arthritis is not limited to adults

While arthritis is usually thought of as a disease of the aging, more than 40 million Americans, both young and old, suffer from some form of arthritis.

Ana-Carlin Krueger is an active fourth grader and an excellent big sister to two-month-old Emmie Sinclair.

Krueger, however, has had her share of hard times.

"Yea, I used to have to take pills, and it didn't feel well," she said.

It started with a fever, an upset stomach and a funny walk.

Caroline Krueger, Ana-Carlin's mom, said, "They tested for everything from HIV to Mad Cow Disease and all of these outlandish things they had to rule out."

Source: http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/arthritis-not-limited-to-adults/127023.htm

Manchester Researchers Identify Gene Behind Rheumatoid Arthritis

University of Manchester researchers have identified a genetic variant in a region on chromosome 6 that is associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most common inflammatory arthritis affecting 387,000 people in the UK.

Professor Jane Worthington and her team at the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) Epidemiology Unit at the University investigated 9 genetic regions identified earlier this year as potentially harbouring DNA variants determining susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis. Association to one of the variants on chromosome 6 was unequivocally confirmed, reports this week�s Nature Genetics (4 November 2007). Although this variant is not located in a gene, Professor Worthington suggests that it may influence the behaviour of a nearby gene: tumour necrosis factor associated protein (TNFAIP3) as this is a gene that is known to be involved in inflammatory processes.

Source: "http://www.bioresearchonline.com/content/news/article.asp?docid=81e46195-8156-45d6-9c26-9912c772265c&atcc=771+s=773+r=001+l=a&VNETCOOKIE=NO

Steroids as Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Long-Term Treatment With Steroids Decreases Risk Of Lymphoma In ...

Two years or more of oral steroid treatment decreases the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) related lymphoma, according to data presented at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, in Barcelona, Spain. Furthermore, these effects were found regardless of when in the course of the disease the steroids were first administered. However, these beneficial effects were not observed if the steroids were taken for less than a two year period.

Study author Dr Eva Baecklund of Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden, said of the results, "The pros and cons of corticosteroid treatment in rheumatoid arthritis have been a subject of much debate and long term steroid treatment is often limited as a result of concerns about various side effects. What our data show is a new aspect of steroid treatment.

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