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New hope for Leeds arthritis patients
A trailblazing arthritis treatment in Leeds is helping sufferers cope with their condition.
The new treatment – based on intensive therapy and more frequent, monthly checks – is being tested on 200 people in the city as part of a 500,000 trial.
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If it succeeds completely, it could become standard practice across the country in dealing with psoriatic arthritis, an early onset form of the joint illness which also affects the skin.
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The clinical trial is being run at Chapel Allerton Hospital and funded by the Arthritis Research Campaign.
The Leeds team believe that earlier, intensive treatment of the
condition could reduce joint damage more effectively than current less frequent treatments.
It is admitted that in the short term it could work out more expensive for the NHS – but in the long term would be cost effective by getting patients in remission quicker.
During the trial, patients' progress and response to treatment will be measured by modern imaging, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Dr Philip Helliwell, who is senior clinical lecturer at the University of Leeds and is leading the team at Chapel Allerton Hospital, said: "We think that a tighter, more aggressive treatment of psoriatic arthritis, in which patients are given escalating dosages of drugs if their condition is not responding, and see a specialist every month with the aim of controlling their symptoms fully and as soon as possible, will result in a good outcome after 12 months.
"The standard treatment is to see a specialist maybe every three or four months, with less emphasis on early, escalating treatment and a more 'wait and see' approach.
"We have found so far that patients like coming back to the clinic every month, even if they are working, because they like the feeling that their disease is being responded to and that they are being treated in a positive manner."
One of the trial patients is 20-year-old Leeds student James Butler.
James, who studies electronics and nano-technology at the University of Leeds, was diagnosed within one dramatic week last year, as the normally fit and healthy young man felt his joints stiffening up completely, and went to his doctor for advice.
His GP referred him quickly to a specialist and, when offered the chance to have traditional treatment or the new intensive treatment, he opted for the latter.
"The first few months were awful because it took a few weeks for the methotrexate to kick in, and it affected my studies – I couldn't always make it in to lectures because of morning stiffness," explained James.
"But I'd say the benefits outweigh the costs because it is now controlling my symptoms. It's so much better to be seen every month rather than every three or four months, and to have access to MRI and ultra-sound and x-rays regularly which keeps tabs on my condition."
Former care home worker Lorraine Smith, 46, is also part of the trial.
She developed psoriatic arthritis in April last year, and it severely affected her feet and spine.
The pain was sometimes so extreme that for a time she could hardly walk – or even bear the weight of her duvet on her feet.
"I'm happy to be in a research project that might help others and l'm already really benefiting myself," she said.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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