Combination therapy for early rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Around 1% of adults in the UK have rheumatoid arthritis (RA).1 UK national guidelines recommend that such people should receive disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) as soon as possible after diagnosis, as earlier treatment is more effective in reducing disease progression.2^,3 Also, it has been proposed that combination DMARD therapy may reduce joint damage more than single drugs.1^,2^,4 In the light of several recently published trials on combination therapy in early RA,5–14 here we update our recommendations on such treatment. 15^,16