Do people with rheumatoid arthritis benefit from steroids?

Yes: Steroids play a role in both the short and longterm treatment of ra. We use steroids for flares of the disease but also in newly diagosised patients to get control of disease. The higher the dose and longer use of Prednisone increases the potential side effects of ra. The good news we have multiple other medications to treat RA and we use these meds to try and get patient off or down on steroids.

Yes: Use of steroids orally or by injection is often helpful in the treatment of an acute flare up of rheumatoid arthritis. Some patients remain on steroids for a long time however there are serious problems with long term steroid use including bone loss, decreased blood sugar regulation, sodium retention, loss of muscle mass, and immune suppression. Most doctors will try to get to lowest dose or off.