Powerful
pain relief of rofecoxib in rheumatoid arthritis
- Latest evidence confirms
The efficacy and potency of rofecoxib, an arthritis
medicine was further confirmed by a broad range
of studies presented at the recent American College
of Rheumatology (ACR) in San Francisco, California.
The new data presented showed that rofecoxib significantly
reduced pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis,
one of the more serious and painful forms of arthritis.
Rofecoxib is a product of Merck Sharp & Dohme
(MSD), one of the world's leading pharmaceutical
companies.
One study involved 909 rheumatoid arthritis
patients who were randomly given medication -
some were treated with either rofecoxib using
the recommended starting dose for rheumatoid arthritis
once daily, rofecoxib at half the recommended
starting dose for rheumatoid arthritis once daily,
naproxen at the usual prescription strength for
rheumatoid arthritis. twice daily, or a placebo
for 12 weeks. Naproxen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drug (NSAID) that is also commonly used for the
treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
The study found that rofecoxib at the recommended
starting dose for rheumatoid arthritis given once
daily provided pain relief to the same degree
as the above naproxen dose which was given twice
daily, and also gave superior pain relief compared
to the placebo on all primary and key secondary
measures. Specifically, both this dose of rofecoxib
and naproxen were found to significantly reduce
the number of tender joints (p<0.05) and the number
of swollen joints (p<0.05), compared to placebo.
In addition, significant improvements on the patient
and investigator respective global assessments
of disease activity were observed with rofecoxib
and naproxen, compared to placebo (p<0.05). Rofecoxib
at half the recommended starting dose for rheumatoid
arthritis once daily showed significant improvements
compared to placebo for only the patient and investigator
global assessments. All active treatments had
favorable tolerability, with similar adverse event
rates observed across all groups.
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