How to treat rheumatism?

First of all, don’t think that rheumatism only exists in the elderly. If young people do not protect their bodies well, they will also develop rheumatism. Rheumatism is a disease that is difficult to treat. Once it occurs, patients need to prevent its recurrence, because once rheumatism recurs, it will aggravate the condition. There is currently no cure for rheumatism. It can only be controlled and the pain relieved through medication, so everyone must pay attention to their living environment and take measures to keep warm. Rheumatic diseases can be treated with medications, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, etc.

Rheumatism is a group of diseases that mainly affect joints, bones, muscles, blood vessels and related soft tissues or connective tissues, most of which are autoimmune diseases. The onset is often hidden and slow, the course of the disease is long, and most cases have a genetic predisposition. Both diagnosis and treatment are somewhat difficult; different autoantibodies can be detected in the blood, which may be related to different HLA subtypes; there is a good short-term or long-term relief response to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants.

Drug treatment

Drugs used to treat rheumatic diseases can be divided into the following categories:

1. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): The effects of this type of drug are mainly antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic, thereby achieving the purpose of alleviating inflammatory reactions. The earliest one was aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid), which is still an effective drug for treating acute rheumatic fever and rheumatoid arthritis. Later, various salicylic acid drugs were produced, commonly used ones include ibuprofen, diclofenac, indomethacin, piroxicam, naproxen, etc., but the pharmacokinetics and adverse reactions of various drugs are different, mainly affecting the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, liver and blood systems. When using them, you must pay attention to the dosage, usage, side effects, etc.

2. Adrenal cortical hormones: mainly refers to glucocorticoids, because this type of drug has anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects, and can strongly and quickly eliminate inflammation and various symptoms caused by inflammatory reactions, such as fever, joint swelling and pain. Therefore, it is often used as the first-line drug for various rheumatic diseases. The preparations used clinically include short-acting, medium-acting and long-acting preparations. The dosage includes oral administration, intramuscular or intra-articular injection, and intravenous injection, and different choices can be made according to the type of disease and condition. However, since it is not a cure, long-term and excessive use can induce infection, osteoporosis, femoral head necrosis, diabetes, peptic ulcer, hypertension, mental disorders, etc.; and if the drug is stopped too quickly, the disease may rebound. Therefore, attention should be paid to adjusting the type and dosage of the drug used according to the type of disease and condition. Except for critically ill patients, small doses and short courses of treatment are generally appropriate.

3. Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are also called slow-acting antirheumatic drugs. This type of drug includes many types of drugs with different structures and different effects. Their common feature is that they take effect relatively slowly and have a certain accumulation effect. Therefore, after stopping the drug, the effect disappears relatively slowly and can still last for a period of time. They do not have direct anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, but can exert anti-inflammatory and immune or immunosuppressive effects through different mechanisms. Therefore, it can also improve joint swelling, pain, stiffness and alleviate systemic symptoms, and reduce acute phase reactant protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. If used for a longer period of time, it can also improve other immune indicators, such as RF, ANA, etc. Some can even improve radiological images. DMARDs include the antimalarial drugs chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, sulfasalazine, methotrexate, azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, penicillamine, gold preparations, cyclosporine A, and leflunomide.