title: Combination therapy for early rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Around 1% of adults in the U.K. have rheumatoid arthritis (RA). U.K. national guidelines recommend that such people should receive disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) as soon as possible after diagnosis, as earlier treatment is more effective in reducing disease progression. Also, it has been proposed that combination DMARD therapy may reduce joint damage more than single drugs. In the light of several recently published trials on combination therapy in early RA, here we update our recommendations on such treatment.
mesh_terms: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics; D016527:Drug Costs; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha