Once-a-week arthritis pill significantly reduces the risk of heart attacks

A once-a-week pill to treat rheumatoid arthritis significantly reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke for people with the painful joint condition.

An international team of researchers led by Antonio Naranjo of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, have found that a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis significantly reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Their study included 4,363 patients from 48 sites in 15 countries, and examined the causes and effects of rheumatoid arthritis, as well as the potential benefits of medications.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a known risk factor for hardening of the arteries and can lead to stroke and heart attacks which occur in sufferers ten years earlier than in people without the condition.

They suggest that a pill once a week will help prevent a heart attack or a stroke in people suffering from the painful joint condition.

The researchers say their findings provide more evidence of the benefits of the generic drug methotrexate and highlights the importance of prescribing it early on.

Methotrexate is a cancer drug and works by altering the body's use of folic acid, which is needed for cell growth.

It starts to work as early as three to six weeks after treatment begins.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease which occurs when the body confuses healthy tissue for foreign substances and starts attacking itself.

It is estimated that there are around 20 million people worldwide suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and some drugs used to treat the condition directly reduce the inflammation while others tone down immune system response, but patients are often left vulnerable to infections and cancer.

These latest results are part of a long-term study of more than 4,300 people in 15 countries examining the causes and effects of rheumatoid arthritis and the potential benefits of medications.

The international team which included researchers from Spain, Argentina and the United States, found there were potential health benefits for people prescribed methotrexate.

The researchers say the use of methotrexate for one year cut the risk of heart attack by 18 percent and the risk of a stroke by 11 percent.

The results also suggest that newer drugs which block an inflammatory protein called tumour necrosis factor, or TNF, were also effective at reducing heart attack and stroke risk.

The researchers say although more research is needed, the results show that a difference is being made in patients' lives.

The research is published in the journal Arthritis & Therapy.