ABSTRACT
About 100 million individuals are afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), including 8 million Americans. This painful disease is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The causes of RA are unknown and there is no known cure. Chrysotherapy, or the treatment of RA by monovalent gold thiol drugs, has been practiced since 1929, although the mechanisms of action are not known with certainty. In general, the gold drugs were most efficacious — and toxic — during the first 2 years of treatment. This chapter synthesizes information on (1) the history of gold drugs used in the treatment of RA; (2) proposed modes of action of gold drugs; and (3) chrysotherapy treatment regimes, adverse effects, and case histories, as modified from Eisler (2003).
