This article from Science Daily summarizes what is known about the risks of various biologic pharmaceuticals for Rheumatoid Arthritis and other forms of inflammatory arthritis, like psoriatic arthritis.
Big Pharma is in a continuous spiral as they work over time to produce new drugs to adapt to our changing biology. There are two fundamental problems drug companies have to handle. One, on any given day, there are large numbers of patients who will not respond to a drug. Some physicians have estimated this number at 50%.
The second problem is the body’s ever- increasing tolerance for any drug that attempts to override the body’s basic programming. The fact is that our body is committed to its own version of the truth and will not allow it to be suppressed for long. The response of many of us, until we learn that we have complete control of the condition through our diet, is to keep changing meds in a never ending struggle to find relief.
This article is for everyone in the pre-diet-change stage of the disorder. It uses an analysis of previously published data (called a meta analysis) and doesn’t compare pharmaceuticals with each other. Nevertheless, the results are significant.
In a nutshell, here are the findings:
When compared to each other, two drugs, adalimumab (Humira) and infliximab (Remicade), caused more adverse events, whereas abatacept (Enbrel) and anakinra (Kineret) were associated with fewer serious adverse events. Taking certolizumab pegol (Cimzia) was more likely to result in a serious infection compared to several other biologics.
Linkages have been made to increased risk of infections, reactivation of tuberculosis (TB), cancer and congestive heart failure.
Here is the rest of the article:
ScienceDaily (Feb. 15, 2011) — Some biologic drugs may be safer than others according to a new systematic review by Cochrane researchers. Biologics are a broad class of drugs based on biological molecules. The drugs are used to reduce inflammation in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Although the effectiveness of biologics is now well established, it is thought that some may have rare but serious side effects related to their immune-suppressing activities. Links have been made to increased risk of infections, reactivation of tuberculosis (TB), cancer and congestive heart failure.
The review is based on data from 163 studies focused on nine different biologics used to treat arthritis and other conditions. A total of 50,010 patients took part in the studies. Adverse events and TB reactivation were more likely among those taking biologics compared to controls. Serious side effects, lymphoma and congestive heart failure were no more likely. When compared to each other, two drugs, adalimumab (Humira) and infliximab (Remicade), caused more adverse events, whereas abatacept (Embrel) and anakinra (Kineret) were associated with fewer serious adverse events. Taking certolizumab pegol was more likely to result in a serious infection compared to several other biologics.
The researchers say the results should be treated cautiously. “The data provides some guidance for clinicians and patients as regards the safety of different biologic drugs, but we should remember that these are not head-to-head trials.” said lead researcher Jasvinder Singh of the Birmingham VA Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama. “There is still an urgent need for more research into the safety of these drugs, and in particular their comparative safety.”