Abstract

HERBAL TREATMENT FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Rheumatoid arthritis is basically an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of joints and other areas of the body. It is known to affect people of all ages but the main cause of rheumatoid arthritis is still not known precisely among individuals. In RA the joints are damaged to a huge extent that ultimately leads to its destruction and deformity. Although RA has no proper cure it can be treated well under good medications with sufficient rest and regular exercises and occasionally surgery.

                          Pharmaceutical research has resulted in several new approaches for treatment/management of arthritis including drugs like the biologic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Several disadvantages like serious side effects, high costs and requirement of parenteral administration still invite more research in this area to provide a convenient, affordable therapy with lesser or no side effects. Traditionally used herbal medicines, due to their anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties, have potential to be a therapy of choice for arthritis patients and are now extensively being studied. Although a number of these medicines are being used traditionally for their therapeutic activity, development of their novel drug delivery systems was not attractive to the scientists due to insufficient knowledge about their exact mechanism of action and difficulties in processing, standardizing, extracting and identification of active constituents. The present manuscript focuses on herbal medicines for arthritis along with various strategies adopted by scientists so as to improve the bioavailability, stability and to reduce the side effects of these medicines so as to provide consistently effective alternative medication for arthritis.

                          A possible way to achieve this is designing novel drug delivery systems for herbal constituents. Novel drug delivery systems help to the reduce toxicity and increase the bioavailability thereby improving the therapeutic value of the active constituent.

Keywords: Joint pain, ginger, arnica, turmeric, novel drug delivery.


Author(s): A.Krishna Sailaja

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