150 lines
No EOL
11 KiB
HTML
150 lines
No EOL
11 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
|
|
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
|
|
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>Research Activities, February 2002: Pharmaceutical Research: Low-dose steroids are neither safe nor effective for long-term treatment of rheumatoid arthritis</title>
|
|
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
|
|
<!-- "metadata" -->
|
|
<meta name="Title" content="Research Activities, February 2002" />
|
|
<meta name="keywords" content="Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, AHRQ, AHCPR, AIDS/HIV, ambulatory care, benchmark, child, cost, elderly, health cost, healthcare cost, hospital, long-term care, managed care, markets, mental health, methodology, minority health, nursing, nursing homes, outcome research, out-of-pocket spending, patient care, primary, primary care, research, rural, spending, study, Translating Research Into Practice, TRIP" />
|
|
<meta name="description" content="Online newsletter summarizing published findings from AHRQ-funded studies, new AHRQ publications and products, and funding opportunities." />
|
|
<meta name="datecreated" content="February 2002" />
|
|
<meta name="datereviewed" content="February 2002" />
|
|
<meta name="language" content="English" />
|
|
<!-- end metadata -->
|
|
<link href="/includes/archive.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
|
|
<link href="/includes/ahrqstyleprint_arch.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print" />
|
|
<script>
|
|
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
|
|
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
|
|
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
|
|
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
|
|
|
|
ga('create', 'UA-75759936-1', 'auto');
|
|
ga(' set', 'anonymizeIp', true);
|
|
|
|
ga('send', 'pageview');
|
|
|
|
</script></head><body><!-- Google Tag Manager -->
|
|
<noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-W4DST4"
|
|
height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>
|
|
<script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':
|
|
new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],
|
|
j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src=
|
|
'//www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);
|
|
})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-W4DST4');</script>
|
|
<!-- End Google Tag Manager -->
|
|
<noscript>
|
|
Your browser doesn't support JavaScript. Please upgrade to a modern browser or enable JavaScript in your existing browser.
|
|
</noscript>
|
|
|
|
<!-- Page Header v2.0 -->
|
|
<a name="top" id="top"></a>
|
|
<!--Begin Banner CodeS-->
|
|
<div id="ahrqbanner">
|
|
<div class="hhsportion">
|
|
<a href="#h1" class="skipnav">Skip Navigation</a>
|
|
<a href="http://www.hhs.gov" title="U.S. Department of Health and Human Services">
|
|
<img src="/images/hhs_banner.gif" alt="U.S. Department of Health and Human Services" />
|
|
</a>
|
|
<a href="http://www.hhs.gov" title="www.hhs.gov" class="hhsright">
|
|
<img src="/images/hhs_link.gif" alt="www.hhs.gov" />
|
|
</a>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="ahrqportion">
|
|
<a href="/" title="Archive: Agency for Healthcare Research Quality">
|
|
<img src="/images/ahrq_banner.gif" alt="Agency for Healthcare Research Quality" />
|
|
</a><form name="searchForm" method="get" action="https://search.ahrq.gov/search" id="banner_searchform">
|
|
<label for="search" style="z-index:-1;position:relative;margin-right:-65px; font-size:0px;">Search</label>
|
|
<input name="q" type="text" value=" Search Archive" size="11" onfocus="this.value='';" class="gotext" label="Search archive" id="search" />
|
|
<input type="hidden" name="entqr" value="0" />
|
|
<input type="hidden" name="output" value="xml_no_dtd" />
|
|
<input type="hidden" name="proxystylesheet" value="ARCHIVE_Front_End" />
|
|
<input type="hidden" name="client" value="ARCHIVE_Front_End" />
|
|
<input type="hidden" name="site" value="ARCHIVE_AHRQ_GOV" />
|
|
<input src="/images/topbn_GoButton.gif" class="gobtn" name="Submit" onclick="javascript:document.searchForm.submit();" type="image" alt="Search" />
|
|
</form>
|
|
<a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/" class="ahrqright">www.ahrq.gov</a>
|
|
</div><div class="ahrqlinks"><a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/">AHRQ Home—Live Site</a> | <a href="/">Archive Home</a> | <a href="/sitemap.htm">Site Map</a> <!-- | <img src="/images/envelope1.jpg" alt="" width="21" height="14" /><a href="https://subscriptions.ahrq.gov/service/multi_subscribe.html?code=USAHRQ">E-mail Updates</a> --></div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div id="PrintBanner">
|
|
<img src="/images/printbanner_arch.jpg" alt="Archive print banner" />
|
|
</div>
|
|
<a name="h1"></a>
|
|
<!-- End banner code -->
|
|
<!-- End of Page header -->
|
|
|
|
<!-- Content Body -->
|
|
<div id="mainContent">
|
|
<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" >
|
|
<tr valign="top">
|
|
<td width="70%">
|
|
<!-- Center Content section -->
|
|
<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px;margin-top:5px" summary="This table gives the layout format of the bread crumb area and the center content area.">
|
|
<!--DWLayoutTable-->
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td class="crumb_link"><div id="crumbContent">
|
|
<p><strong>You Are Here:</strong> <span class="crumb_link"><a href="/" class="crumb_link">AHRQ Archive Home</a> > <a href="/research/resarch.htm" class="crumb_link"><em>Research Activities</em> Archive</a> > <a href="." class="crumb_link">February 2002</a> </span></p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td><h1><a name="h1" id="h1"></a>Pharmaceutical Research </h1>
|
|
</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td><div id="centerContent"><div class="headnote">
|
|
<p>This information is for reference purposes only. It was current when produced and may now be outdated. Archive material is no longer maintained, and some links may not work. Persons with disabilities having difficulty accessing this information should contact us at: <a href="https://info.ahrq.gov/">https://info.ahrq.gov</a>. Let us know the nature of the problem, the Web address of what you want, and your contact information. </p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Please go to <a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/">www.ahrq.gov</a> for current information.</p></div>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="head1">Low-dose steroids are neither safe nor effective for long-term treatment of rheumatoid arthritis</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Doctors should abandon the use of low-dose glucocorticoids such as prednisone as an antiquated approach to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in favor of more targeted and safer RA treatments, recommends Kenneth G. Saag, M.D., M.Sc., in a recent commentary. He contends that long-term low-dose glucocorticoids, a type of steroid, simply do not work (their antiinflammatory benefits decline considerably after the first year), and they can cause undue adverse effects and toxicity. High on the list of problems is the dramatic bone loss and resulting fracture risk from prolonged glucocorticoid use. Yet few RA patients are being evaluated and treated for this potential complication. </p>
|
|
|
|
<p>One study estimated that more than half of glucocorticoid users develop bone loss leading to fracture. Other studies have suggested a mean first-year loss of bone of up to 15 percent at the dose range of 10 mg per day or less of prednisone and up to a loss of 3 percent per year in subsequent years. Another study found that 34 percent of women on a mean dose of prednisone of 8.6 mg per day had suffered a fracture within 5 years of followup. </p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Cataract is another well-described complication of prolonged glucocorticoid use. Cataract may develop even when inhaled glucocorticoids are used. In addition, increased intraocular pressure may develop in these patients, increasing the risk of glaucoma.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Long-term use of low-dose glucocorticoids also may lead to development of premature atherosclerosis. One study found a three-fold increase in atherosclerosis in RA patients treated with glucocorticoids compared with nonsteroid-treated patients. Biologic response-modifying drugs are now available to treat RA, such as methotrexate, leflunomide, etanercept, and infliximab. When the serious problems associated with glucocorticoids are adequately explained, patients' perceptions of and preference for their use may change markedly, says Dr. Saag. His work at the Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics of Musculoskeletal Disorders, University of Alabama at Birmingham, is supported in part by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (HS10389).</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>More details are in "Resolved: Low-dose glucocorticoids are neither safe nor effective for the long-term treatment of rheumatoid arthritis," by Dr. Saag, in the October 2001 <em>Arthritis Care & Research</em> 45, pp. 468-471. </p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="size2"><a href=".">Return to Contents</a><br />
|
|
<a href="0202RA3.htm">Proceed to Next Article</a></p>
|
|
<div class="footnote">
|
|
<p> The information on this page is archived and provided for reference purposes only.</p></div>
|
|
<p> </p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
<!-- End of Center Content section -->
|
|
</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<!-- End of Content Body -->
|
|
<!-- Footer graphic 1.2-->
|
|
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" width="100%">
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td width="125" background="/images/bottom_ahrq_bkg.jpg"><img src="/images/bottom_ahrq_1.jpg" width="125" alt="AHRQ" /></td>
|
|
<td width="100%" background="/images/bottom_ahrq_bkg.jpg" ><img src="/images/bottom_ahrq_bkg.jpg" width="10" height="34" alt="" /></td>
|
|
|
|
<td width="310" background="/images/bottom_ahrq_bkg.jpg"><img src="/images/bottom_ahrq_2.gif" alt="Advancing Excellence in Health Care" width="310" height="34" /></td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
<!-- Footer links section -->
|
|
<div id="banner_Footer2"><p> <a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/">AHRQ Home</a> | <a href="https://info.ahrq.gov" class="footer_navlink">Questions?</a> | <a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/contact/index.html" class="footer_navlink">Contact AHRQ</a> | <a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/sitemap.html" class="footer_navlink">Site Map</a> | <a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/policy/electronic/accessibility/index.html" class="footer_navlink">Accessibility</a> | <a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/policy/electronic/privacy/index.html" class="footer_navlink">Privacy
|
|
Policy</a> | <a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/policy/foia/index.html" class="footer_navlink">Freedom of Information Act</a> | <a href="https://www.ahrq.gov/policy/electronic/disclaimers/index.html" class="footer_navlink">Disclaimers</a> | <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/open/recordsandreports/plainwritingact/index.html" class="footer_navlink">Plain Writing Act</a> <br />
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://www.hhs.gov" class="footer_navlink">U.S. Department of Health & Human Services</a> | <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov" class="footer_navlink">The White House</a> | <a href="http://www.usa.gov" class="footer_navlink">USA.gov: The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal</a></p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div id="banner_Footeraddress"><p>Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality <img src="/images/bottom_dot.gif" alt="" /> 5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, MD 20857 <img src="/images/bottom_dot.gif" alt="" /> Telephone: (301) 427-1364</p></div>
|
|
|
|
<!-- End of Footer links section -->
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html> |