New advice on rheumatoid arthritis
Updated on 23 February 2009
New guidance aimed at ensuring a consistent national approach to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis across the NHS will be published this week.
The advice - to be issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) - concentrates on the early diagnosis and specialist treatment of the painful condition which affects 400,000 sufferers across the UK.
It also provides for the prescription of anti-rheumatic drugs and access to physiotherapy and other specialist support to periodically assess the effect the disease is having on the lives of patients.
There is currently no cure for rheumatoid arthritis - which attacks the joints, particularly in the hands and feet - but Dr Fergus Macbeth, the Nice guidelines director, said the advice was intended to help sufferers manage their condition.
"Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be a debilitating condition causing severe pain and limiting the ability to do everyday tasks," he said.
"This new guideline incorporates a suite of previous Nice technology appraisals on drug treatment, so these together with the new guideline recommendations will enable health professionals to provide the best care for adults with RA to help reduce the impact of the condition on patients' everyday lives."
The guidance, which will be published on Wednesday, will apply to England and Wales. They will also be reviewed locally for their applicability in Northern Ireland.
It calls for anyone with suspected symptoms to be referred to a specialist. The referral should be urgent if the small joints of the hands or feet are affected or it has been three months or longer since the onset of symptoms.
Patients with newly diagnosed active RA should be offered a combination of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs as first-line treatment as soon as possible.
Sufferers should have access to specialist physiotherapy, with periodic review, to improve their general fitness and learn exercises for enhancing joint flexibility and muscle strength.
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