Rheumatologists, dermatologists, and patient advocates have combined efforts to publish the first-ever international guidelines for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis.

Psoriatic arthritis is a disease that primarily affects people with psoriasis though there may be some individuals without psoriasis who may be affected by this disease.

These guidelines by the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA), which was headed by Christopher Ritchlin, M.D., M.P.H., professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

From News-Medical.Net:

A broad range of treatments is available to treat the disease. Options include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and steroids injected into joints or tendons.

Other anti-inflammatory medications known as disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, such as methotrexate, are often used, but GRAPPA found that the medications are often not effective for psoriatic arthritis, even though they can be very useful for treating rheumatoid arthritis, Ritchlin said.

The group recommended that patients see a specialist, such as a dermatologist or rheumatologist, as soon as psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis is suspected. Currently a large number of patients with psoriatic arthritis never see a rheumatologist, and many patients go undiagnosed, Ritchlin said.

The group also recommended that newer medications that inhibit a molecule known as TNF (tumor necrosis factor) be considered by physicians. The first anti-TNF compound, etanercept, was approved by FDA in 1998 to treat rheumatoid arthritis, and then was approved in 2002 to treat psoriatic arthritis. Similar drugs include infliximab and adalimumab.

Ritchlin said that most people respond dramatically and immediately to medications including infliximab and adalimumab.