Antibiotic Treatment of Arthritis
There are several different kinds of medicines used today to treat rheumatic diseases. The exact type of the medication required depends solely on the patient’s condition and disease type. However, most drugs used; help to limit the symptoms of the disease but do not provide an altogether cure for the disease.
Pain Relievers
The most common pain relievers used are:
- Acetaminophen eg Tylenol
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs e.g. Ibuprofen
NSAIDs are used to relive the pain and have an added advantage of reducing inflammation to the joints. It also helps to limit the spreading of the disease to healthy joints. However, NSAIDs have a common side effect of producing irritation in the stomach which can luckily be reduced by changing the dosage to an appropriate level.
Hyaluronic acid products like Hyalgan and Synvisc
These acids imitate a naturally occurring body substance that lubricates the knee joint. Injecting them directly into the joint is a common practice which makes it easier to move and use.
Methotrexate and TNF alpha blockers
Both these drugs are powerful agents to suppress joint inflammation in a large number of patients especially affected with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. However methotrexate is sometimes not considered by doctor’s as a wise option.
Disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs)
Initially the term was coined to refer to the drugs which reduced the any of the following underlying causes of the diseases:
- raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate
- reduced haemoglobin level
- raised rheumatoid factor level (RF)
- raised C-reactive protein level.
Now the term is mostly used to refer to the drugs which reduce the rate of damage to the bone and cartilage. Following are the names of common (DMARDs)
- azathioprine
- ciclosporin (cyclosporine A)
- D-penicillamine
- gold salts
Other Treatment Options for Arthritis
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