Disease-modifying antirheumatic drug use in the elderly rheumatoid arthritis patient

Abstract

During the 10-year period since the last review was done by Gardner and Furst, studies have furthered our knowledge of use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in the elderly rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient. This article will briefly review the clinical pharmacology of human as they age, and detail the effects of aging on the specific pharmacokinetics and responses to commonly used DMARDs. There has been some progress in understanding the elderly RA patient, however, there is insufficient data for much confidence in DMARDs effects in the elderly.