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Mike Mitka

JAMA. 2005;294:3073-3074.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Has the BeSt study uncovered the best treatment courses to offer patients newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis?

Currently, the goal of treatment for the more than 2 million Americans (mostly women over age 40 years) with this progressive inflammatory disease of the joints and organs is to relieve symptoms and prevent long-term structural damage and functional decline. To that end, physicians typically treat these patients with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), either sequentially or in a step-up combination (with or without a corticosteroid) or coupled with a tumor necrosis factor antagonist biologic.

Researchers are working to determine which treatment regimens work best for relieving symptoms and preventing long-term structural damage and functional decline in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. (Photo credit: CNRI/www.sciencesource.com)

This variety of treatment courses leaves some clinicians wondering which are optimal. Various trials have compared some treatments with others, but none have looked at all . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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