Top Arthritis Management Supplements: Expert Insight for Optimal Relief

The safety checklist, developed by Associate Professor Tue Wenzel Kragstrup and Dr. Lykke Skaarup from Aarhus University, aims to provide safer and more effective treatment for arthritis patients. Credit Aarhus University.

An inappropriate prescription of an antirheumatic drug for an unsuitable patient can lead to severe side effects, such as intestinal perforations, blood clots, heart failure, or liver damage.

“In order to tackle this problem, researchers from the Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University and the Rheumatology Department at the University Clinic for Innovative Patient Pathways in Silkeborg have created a thorough safety checklist for the latest medications used in the treatment of rheumatic diseases.”

“With the increasing number of medications on the market, it is becoming more challenging for healthcare professionals to make prescriptions without risking serious side effects,” explained Associate Professor Tue Wenzel Kragstrup, one of the researchers behind the study and article recently published in the medical journal Drug Safety.

The article outlines a checklist to prevent patients from receiving medications they cannot tolerate.

“With over 20 antirheumatic drugs, each with up to 10 specific contraindications or precautions, there is an urgent need for advanced support tools to assist doctors and pharmacists in navigating the medical landscape,” adds Tue Kragstrup.

The checklist allows doctors to rapidly assess if a patient has comorbidities that restrict the use of certain medications.

“The principles can be applied to other disease areas.”

This checklist is the first of its kind. It was created by analyzing all available patient information leaflets and international treatment guidelines in Europe and the USA. It is based on data from both the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA.

Primarily intended for doctors prescribing medications to patients with rheumatic diseases, the study is also relevant to other doctors and patients as it highlights the risks associated with medical treatments and the need for tools to improve prescription safety in general. Dr. Lykke Skaarup, one of the researchers behind the data extraction in the study, explains.

“The principles behind the checklist can be applied across other disease areas because we have documented a method to systematically identify contraindications and precautions for a group of medications,” she says.

For example, similar checklists could be created for antihypertensive drugs, migraine medications, or cholesterol-lowering drugs using the same approach.

The study has made a wide range of medication information clear, accessible, and user-friendly, enabling doctors to make more informed decisions. Consequently, they can reduce the risk of side effects and enhance patient safety for those treated for inflammatory rheumatic diseases, both now and in the future.

Tue Wenzel Kragstrup notes that the results align with previous studies highlighting the need for better medication safety.

“We hope our work can contribute to safer and more effective treatment of rheumatic diseases,” he says.

Of course, the checklist will need to be continuously updated with new research and the latest reported side effects. The researchers are already working on implementing AI-driven support tools to handle much of this task.

“Are you suffering from joint pain and wondering about the best home remedies for arthritis? In this video, Dr. Girnita discusses the best natural remedies you can use at home to treat arthritis and alleviate pain and inflammation.”

Samuel Sánchez, ICREA Research Professor at the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), will lead the OrthoBots project, which focuses on treating joint diseases using nanorobots.

Arthritis, an inflammatory disease that affects millions of people worldwide, is mainly characterised by osteoarthritis, a chronic degenerative disease that worsens with age and represents a significant economic burden for healthcare systems.

A promising alternative to current treatments is platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy. PRP harnesses the regenerative potential of growth factors, proteins found in the blood that play a key role in injury repair, to stimulate tissue repair processes, particularly in cartilage and bone cells. However, it is common for these proteins to be rapidly degraded upon contact with synovial fluid, limiting their therapeutic efficacy and distribution.

To overcome these obstacles, scientists are exploring advanced drug delivery systems that use nanoparticles as transporters. Although promising, passive diffusion of nanoparticles across viscous biological barriers, such as synovial fluid, remains a significant obstacle.

OrthoBots is presented as an answer to this problem. The project aims to develop enzyme-powered nanoparticles, known as nanorobots, to improve the transport and delivery of these growth factors, facilitating targeted cartilage regeneration.

“This innovative approach has transformative potential, potentially revolutionising arthritis therapy by overcoming current limitations and offering more effective and personalised treatment strategies,” says project leader Samuel Sánchez. Through systematic in vitro studies and in vivo proof of concept, OrthoBots aims to pave the way for the next generation of arthritis therapies, addressing unmet clinical needs and improving patient outcomes.

To carry out the project, Sánchez was awarded an ERC Proof of Concept Grant. This is a prestigious grant awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) to explore the commercial and societal potential of research projects that are or have been funded by the ERC. Applicants use this type of funding to test the practical feasibility of scientific concepts, explore business opportunities or prepare patent applications. This is the sixth grant Samuel Sánchez has received from the European Research Council and the third in the Proof of Concept category.