THERAPEUTIC RESULTS IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Abstract

To correlate the experience in our clinic with that of others, a survey was made of the recent literature on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Study of over two hundred articles revealed the well known multiplicity of therapeutic measures said to produce satisfactory results in a high percentage of patients.¹ Striking discrepancies were noted in various reports on the outcome of identical methods of treatment, such as chrysotherapy.² This uncertainty in our therapeutic information has been summarized by Gold.³ As late as 1941 he stated: I know of few subjects in therapeutics which seem to be in a more unsettled and unsatisfactory state than the treatment of arthritis. It does not seem possible to chart the progress in this field by other than a horizontal line, with repeated spikes representing new therapeutic ventures. The rise of the spike represents the "passive faith" which is so common a