Steroids are a greater risk than methotrexate

In a study published in Annals of Rheumatic disease (feb 2012) the authors conclude that patients who use long term steroids are at a higher risk of non serious infections than patients who use methotrexate.  The risk of infections increases with increased steroid use.

How do you know if your arthritis medications are working?

If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis your Rheumatologist will prescribe medications called disease modifying drus.  In Dubai about 70 percent of Rheumatoid arthritis patients are eventually started on methotrexate.  How do we know if these medications are working?  The Rheumatologist should listen to your symptoms, and ask about you pain levels.  She should then do a thorough joint examination and make a note of how many swollen and inflamed joints you have.  A blood test called ESR and CRP is also used to track inflammation.  All these factors are then put into a computerized scoring system to give a DAS28 or disease activity 28 score.  A score < 2.6 means disease remission and < 3.2 means low disease activity.

Gastritis medications can increase your risk of fracture

According to a National Institutes of Health-funded study published online in the BMJ, "postmenopausal women who use proton pump inhibitors (medicines such as omeprazole, pantoprozole nexium etc) regularly are at increased risk for hip fracture, particularly if they have ever smoked. This is of concern especially in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates where people buy and use these gastritis medications over the counter.  In addition, women here have high levels of vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis. " In fact, "the risk of hip fracture was increased by 35% among women who used these drugs for at least two years, compared with women who never used them (age-adjusted HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.62, P<0.01 for trend)." What's more, "the risk for fracture rose by more than 50% among women with a history of smoking (multivariate HR 1.51, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.91)," the study found.         For the study, researchers "collected data on almost 80,000 postmenopausal women. "Over the course of eight years, from 2000 to 2008, almost 900 hip fractures occurred -- a 35 percent increased risk for women using PPIs compared to women who didn't take the drugs.

Pomegranate juice good for Rheumatoid arthritis

A new study suggests" that pomegranates "may help relieve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. ... In a recent study from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine," two-thirds of mice given "a daily dose of pomegranate extract" developed chemically induced rheumatoid arthritis (RA), whereas the mice given only water all developed RA. Other research suggests that pomegranate juice "may help reduce the buildup of plaque in arteries and lower blood pressure." and "that when men with prostate cancer drank a cup of pomegranate juice daily, the increase in their levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a marker of disease progress, slowed. Still more preliminary studies hint that pomegranate juice may help manage diabetes and erectile dysfunction." Previous studies have shown that cherry juice concentrate is excellent for gout and decreases flares of gout.