One to look out for tomorrow -
telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=003714500008453&rtmo=gw7G7gVu&atmo=tttttttd&pg=/et/00/10/29/narth29.html
"THE first evidence of a safe and effective cure for rheumatoid arthritis, the crippling disease that affects more than 750,000 people in the United Kingdom, is to be unveiled tomorrow by British scientists.
Until now doctors have been able to offer only limited pain relief. Now a team of researchers at University College, London, has identified drugs that produce significant improvements in patients. In results to be announced at an international scientific conference tomorrow, the team will show that patients see a dramatic improvement after a single treatment, with some apparently cured of the disease completely.
The success with patients treated so far - all of whom had failed to respond to any standard therapy - has been so impressive that an international trial of the treatment is now under way. ...
,,,,After a single treatment to wipe out all the B-cells, the body responds by making fresh ones. The chances of these new B-cells making the same mistake as their predecessors, however, thereby triggering a return of rheumatoid arthritis, is small.
According to Prof Edwards, results from the 20 patients treated so far have been extremely encouraging. He said:."After 18 months the first five patients - who have had rheumatoid arthritis for an average of 20 years - now have only some residual pain from the damage already done. They have returned to leading a more or less normal life, with one going to the gym and one taking up gardening for the first time in ages. So far, of the total of 20 patients only two have had no benefit at all."
These initial findings - about to be published in Rheumatology, the leading journal - will be announced tomorrow at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology... |
