ABSTRACT
A disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) is deœned by Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) as a drug that retards the progression of structural joint damage. They are immunosuppressive drugs that have the capacity to not only modify the immune response in the body but also to modify the course of the rheumatic disease. The term is generally used with reference to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and so traditional DMARDs may not have “disease modifying” ability in conditions like ankylosing spondylitis (AS). DMARDs have an onset of action that is typically slow, and it can be weeks to months before clinical effect is evident.
