title: Rheumatoid arthritis initial therapy: unanswered questions.
abstract: Recent changes in the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are high lighted in this article,with emphasis on initial therapy in RA. Critical new concepts and developments are discussed: the importance of early treatment, increased use of combination disease modifying antirheumatic therapy as initial treatment and after failure of monotherapy, the role of the newer biological therapies, and the influence of comorbidity on morbidity and mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE 68198-3025, USA. jrodell@unmc.edu
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Dell
mesh_terms: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000628:therapy*; D001688:Biological Products / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001691:Biological Therapy; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D012219:Rheumatology / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D001688:Biological Products