A Enbrel guide, with links, news, and comments. This drug is also known as Etanercept and is used to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Previous research has linked smoking to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Now, according to a Swedish study from the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism, smoking appears to double the risk of developing RA if you're genetically predisposed to the disease.
If you smoke and already have RA, it's still never too late to quit. Stopping now will reduce your risk of myriad health conditions, including heart disease--which RA patients are particularly prone to. Read more
Certain RA Meds Raise Risk of Tuberculosis
Some TNF-inhibitor drugs appear to raise the risk of tuberculosis (TB)--but not all. According to a recent study conducted in France, people who took Remicade (infliximab) or Humira (adalimumab) had a higher risk of TB than the general French population. But the same did not apply to patients taking Enbrel (etanercept).
All TNF inhibitors work by suppressing the immune system, which makes patients more prone to infection. But Remicade and Humira are "monoclonal antibodies" and have a different mechanism of action than Enbrel, which is a "soluble TNF-receptor therapy."
Keep in mind, though, that the increased risk was small and that most RA patients on Remicade and Humira will not develop tuberculosis. Read more
A New Treatment Option?
Preliminary results are in from a clinical trial on the new RA drug, masitinib--and the news is fair. The drug effectively treated RA, but many study participants stopped taking it because of side effects, such as nausea and rashes.
Like TNF-inhibitor drugs, masitinib works by suppressing the immune system. But it goes after a different type of immune cell involved in inflammation, called a "mast cell."
More research is needed before this therapy goes to the marketplace, but it may eventually serve as an alternative for patients who haven't responded to other drugs.
Kate Brackney is Associate Editor of The Johns Hopkins Medical Letter: Health After 50 and frequently reports on rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic conditions for this prestigious publication. She will direct you to opinions and commentary on the latest issues in rheumatology.
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