The discovery of prednisone in the 1950s revolutionized the treatment of arthritis.

Here are some facts you should know about prednisone

Doctors are using a type of arthritis drug to treat sciatica - the pain associated with a slipped disc. The drug seeks out and 'silences' compounds involved in inflammation - and early trials show that it can banish pain completely.
Sciatica is caused by irritation and inflammation of the sciatic nerve, the longest nerve in the body, which runs from the back of the pelvis, through the buttocks, and down both legs to the feet.
Sciatica is usually described as a sharp, shooting or burning pain, which radiates down the back towards the foot or ankle.
Most attacks occur when the discs that cushion the bones of the spine begin to bulge or move out of position (known as 'slipping'), pressing on the nerve and triggering inflammation.

The advent of a new class of drugs known as biologics has revolutionized the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). These drugs, which include Cimzia, Enbrel, Humira, Kineret, Orencia, Remicade, Rituxan, and Simponi, must be given via self-injection or intravenous infusion in the doctor’s office or hospital. They also can be expensive and are not always covered by insurance.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating whether four drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other immune system diseases might increase the risk of cancer in children.

The FDA has received reports of 30 cases of cancer among children and young adults treated with the drugs. The agency did not make clear how many children had taken the drugs.

If you were around in the early 1900s, a time when tuberculosis and pneumonia were among the leading causes of death, your doctor might have prescribed a drug called heroin to treat your cough.

As explained in the intriguing podcast heroin was first synthesized by chemist Charles Romley Alder Wright in 1874, but he abandoned it after running animal tests.

More than two decades later, Felix Hoffman, who worked with Bayer pharmaceutical company, again synthesized the drug, and the company’s head of the pharmacological laboratory, Heinrich Dreser, decided to move forward with it.

Dreser deemed heroin to be “an original Bayer product” (despite being aware of Wright’s earlier discovery) and, after testing it on animals and humans in 1898, presented the drug to the Congress of German Naturalists and Physicians.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced its approval of a new medication for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The subcutaneous injectable methotrexate therapy known as Rasuvo has also been approved to treat polyarticular-course juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA) and psoriasis. According to a statement from Medac Pharma, Inc., the maker of the drug, Rasuvo has been approved in 10 dosages that range from 7.5 mg to 30 mg in 2.5 mg increments.