Frequently Asked Questions about Arthritis Medications.
Last updated Friday, January 07, 2005
About medicationsAbout this article This article provides an overview of the medications used to treat
arthritis. It provides general information only and does not replace
specific information given to you by your doctor, pharmacist, or other
health care provider. Be sure to consult one of them if you have
questions.What can arthritis medications do? A drug's action is what the drug does in your body. Arthritis medications can be classified on the basis of three main actions:
- Reduction of inflammation
- Slowing down the disease process
- Reduction of uric acid levels
Each of the three actions is described in this page, along with examples of generic (non-brand-name) and brand-name drugs.
Reduce inflammation
Many arthritis drugs are used to decrease inflammation. Inflammation
is a body process that results in pain, swelling, warmth, redness, and
sometimes stiffness.
There are two main categories of drugs that reduce inflammation quickly--the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and the corticosteroids. Corticosteroids are synthetic drugs that closely resemble cortisone, a natural body hormone.
Slow down the disease process
Some drugs are referred to as "disease modifying" or "remission
inducing." It is believed that these drugs can slow down the progress
of the underlying disease. How this occurs is not clear. It is known
that these drugs may require several weeks or months to work. They are
also potentially dangerous and need careful monitoring by you and your
doctor for side effects.
Some drugs that can slow down the disease process are immunosuppressives or cytotoxics.
It is believed that these drugs act by slowing down cell division, thus
reducing the activities of the entire immune system. However, normal
cells can also be reduced, and this can cause low blood counts.
Therefore, close supervision by your doctor is also very important when
you are taking these drugs.
Reduce uric acid levels
Uric acid is a normal product of cell breakdown found in the body.
At extra high levels, however, uric acid can form into crystals in and
around joints, especially the joint of the big toe. The resulting pain
and inflammation is called gout. Gout
is treated with two different kinds of drugs: one to reduce the
inflammation caused by uric acid crystals and the other to reduce the
uric acid level itself.
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