TREATMENT OF THE MONTH:BUG DRUG FOR JOINTS

In the time honoured tradition of waste not want not, doctors are treating arthritis sufferers with an antimalarial drug. This Jack of all trades is oral hydroxychloroquine, which seems to help rheumatoid arthritis patients better than intramuscular

Apparently this breakthrough was made by taking a wider view of arthritis, and in particular blood fat levels. Specialists found that arthritis sufferers have abnormal counts.

The same broad view will doubtlessly be sustained to consider the side effects of the drug (Ann Rheum Dis 1997; 56: 341-2).