抗类风湿性关节炎药物可降低心脏病发作风险

氨甲喋呤可降低类风关者心血管疾病风险
Arthritis pill cuts heart attack risk: study
LONDON (Reuters) - 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 said on Thursday.

伦敦（路透社）—周四，一个国际研究小组报道，每周服用一次的治疗类风湿性关节炎药物能显著减少关节炎患者心脏病发作和卒中风险。

The findings published in the journal Arthritis & Therapy provides further evidence of the benefits of the generic drug methotrexate and underscores the importance of prescribing it early on, the researchers said.

研究人员在《Arthritis & Therapy》杂志上称，这项研究结果进一步证实了非专利药物甲氨喋呤的有效性，并强调了患者早期服用该药的重要性。

\"This shows that we are really making a difference in patients' lives,\" said Tuulikki Sokka, a researcher at Jyvaskyla Central Hospital in Finland, who worked on the study.

芬兰Jyvaskyla中心医院的研究人员 Tuulikki Sokka说，“这表明我们真正使患者的生活产生了不同。”

About 20 million people worldwide have rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease caused when the body confuses healthy tissue for foreign substances and attacks itself.

类风湿性关节炎是一种自身免疫性疾病，身体无法区分健康组织和外来物质，而对自身组织产生损害。 全世界大约有2000万人罹患本病。

Some drugs used to treat it reduce inflammation directly while others tone down immune system response -- leaving patients vulnerable to infections and cancer.

有些药物可直接减少炎症，而另外一些药物则降低免疫系统反应——导致患者容易发生感染和癌症。

Methotrexate was developed as a cancer drug and works by altering the body's use of folic acid, which is needed for cell growth. It may begin to work as early as three to six weeks after treatment starts.

甲氨喋呤最初作为抗癌药物应用，其作用机理是干扰细胞生长所必需的叶酸代谢。用药3～6周后开始发挥作用。

The 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.

该研究结果来自于一项在15个国家4300多人中进行的调查类风湿性关节病因、后果和药物效应的长期研究。

The team -- which included researchers from Spain, Argentina and the United States -- adjusted for traditional risk factors such as exercise, smoking and diabetes and found potential health benefits for people given methotrexate

来自西班牙、阿根廷和美国的研究人员在调整了运动、吸烟和糖尿病等传统风险因素后，发现服用甲氨喋呤的患者健康状况得到改善。

Using methotrexate for one year cut the risk of heart attack by 18 percent and the risk of a stroke by 11 percent, the researchers said.

研究人员称，服用一年甲氨喋呤，心脏病发作风险降低18 ％，卒中风险降低11%。

Results also suggested that newer drugs that block an inflammatory protein called tumor necrosis factor, or TNF, were also effective at reducing heart attack and stroke risk, although more research is needed, Sokka said.

Sokka说，该研究结果还表明，新药肿瘤坏死因子（或TNF）阻断剂也能有效减少心脏病发作和卒中风险，目前还需要进一步研究。

This class of drugs includes Johnson & Johnson's Remicade, Amgen Inc's Enbrel, and Abbott Laboratories Inc's Humira. The drugs are expensive, which is why people often do not get them right away.

这一类药物包括强生公司的Remicade、安进公司的Enbrel、雅培公司的Humira。但这些药物价格昂贵，患者通常不会将此作为首选。