Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a painful autoimmune inflammatory condition affecting joints and other body systems, afflicts some 1.5 million people in the US alone. In recent decades, with the advent of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), the disease has become more amenable to treatment, with fewer flare-ups, less joint destruction and lower mortality.
Yet managing RA remains challenging and patients need close monitoring, including frequent appointments and imaging studies. There are also issues...