Group investigates better ways of treating rheumatoid arthritis

RESEARCHERS in Yorkshire are aiming to move a step closer to developing a way of accurately predicting which people with early signs of joint pain and inflammation will develop rheumatoid arthritis.

Identifying people at most risk of developing severe rheumatoid arthritis is the “Holy Grail” of care as patients can be treated quickly and early in the course of their disease.

Meanwhile those whose symptoms will remain mild or even go into remission will not needlessly be put on strong drugs for the condition which damages and destroys joints and affects 380,000 people in the UK.

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Doctors have few tools for predicting which of their patients will be worst affected but a team at the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, led by leading specialist Prof Paul Emery, have been at the forefront of research to develop personalised medicine for the past decade.

Now the charity Arthritis Research UK has awarded £300,000 in funding for further work in the field led by clinical lecturer in rheumatology Jane Freeston, based at Chapel Allerton Hospital in Leeds.

She plans to identify very small amounts of joint and tendon disease in a group of patients with the earliest signs of inflammatory arthritis, by combining cutting-edge scanning techniques and antibody testing.

She hopes her findings can be translated into an ultrasound technique that can be used to make treatment more targeted and appropriate for the patient.

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