What should be my treatment goal?

When treating rheumatoid arthritis, the goal is aggressively controlling the inflammation from progressing and, if possible, stopping the symptoms from worsening.

The current approach to treating rheumatoid arthritis is a rigorous series of physical therapy, medications, exercise, and surgery in the event of severe joint damage. Thankfully with many of the new treatments – especially medicinal – joint damage can be put into remission or in some cases be fully arrested.

Current medications and treatments that are being used to combat rheumatoid arthritis are:

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug: Doctors have been assigning nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) to rheumatoid arthritis sufferers and patients as it is used to not only reduce pain in the inflamed joints but also slows down the progression of rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. Common over the counter NSAID's include Advil, Motrin, and Aleve.

Prescription NSAID's offer longer lasting relief from rheumatoid arthritis symptoms but carry with them side effects that may turn some patients off, such as increased risk of stroke, heart attacks, heightened blood pressure, stomach irritation, ulcers, and bleeding.

Biologic proteins: Biologic proteins, or biologics, are cutting-edge genetically engineered proteins derived from the human body. Specifically, they are designed to stop key components of the body's immune system that create joint inflammation which is one of the primary symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

For the most part, biologics are used as a last result after previous attempts at treating the rheumatoid arthritis has failed with conventional medicinal treatments. Biologics go a long way to arrest the progression of rheumatoid arthritis symptoms such as inflammation. Tumor necrosis factors (TNF) block the pain and have shown in clinical studies that there are side benefits when TNF is combine with methotrexate.

Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs: Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD's) are used to stall or slow the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Because of the immune system's overreaction and selection of the bodies joints, which results in inflammation, DMARD's work in a manner that suppresses the body's immune system.

However, because of the way DMARD's work the suppression of the immune system is not focused and retards the entire immune system, resulting in an increased chance for the patient to contract other infections. Despite this drawback, DMARD's have been shown in clinical studies to greatly improve even advanced cases of rheumatoid arthritis and stave off joint decay.

Steroids: Steroids are, for many rheumatoid arthritis specialists, a secondary method of treating particularly nasty symptom flare-ups. Taken orally or injected, the steroids ease the pain of the inflamed joints and reduce the stiffness usually associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

Surgery: When join inflammation becomes riotous and begins to cause bone erosion at the joint then joint replacement surgery becomes a necessity. This method of treatment is usually done at the age of 50 for the patient since it only lasts for 20 years before the replacement components begin to break down. Joint replacement is common for knees, hips, and shoulders.