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Immunosuppressive and Disease-Modifying
Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDs):
These are more aggressive therapies that have the potential to
modify the course of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune
diseases. Most do so by suppressing the white blood cells,
whose function is to fight infection. These same white blood
cells, however, have the potential in patients with rheumatic
diseases to cause damage to joints and various organs of the
body. Often, suppressing these cells not only treats the
underlying disease but can result in an increased
susceptibility to infection. Careful monitoring is required
to strike a balance between treating the disease and lowering
the patient�s resistance to infection. The drugs that fall
under this heading include sulfasalazine, gold, leflunomide,
methotrexate, azathioprine, cyclosporine, cyclophosphamide,
chlorambucil, and mycophenolate mofetil.
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