Open AccessA double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial
Author(s) -
Pinals Robert S.,
Kaplan Stanley B.,
Lawson Jeffrey G.,
Hepburn Bonnie
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
arthritis & rheumatism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1529-0131
pISSN - 0004-3591
DOI - 10.1002/art.1780291202
Subject(s) - double blind , medicine , placebo , alternative medicine , pathology
Sulfasalazine (SSZ), 3 gm daily, was compared with placebo for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, in a 15‐week randomized, parallel, double‐blind trial. Joint tenderness and swelling, morning stiffness, grip strength, and pain score all showed significantly more improvement with SSZ than with placebo. Adverse effects, particularly gastrointestinal reactions, led to withdrawal from the study of 28% of the patients who had been receiving SSZ, but these effects were all readily reversible and not life‐threatening. These results confirm previous findings that suppression of rheumatoid synovitis may be induced by SSZ, within 2 months after full maintenance doses are reached.