Gold Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Current Evaluation

IN recent years, the value of gold salts in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has been recognized by most investigators who have studied the problem impartially. These compounds continue to be a useful tool in spite of the dramatic antirheumatic effects of pituitary adrenocorticotropic hor-mone (ACTH) and cortisone. The employment of these hormones has not extended far beyond the experimental stage. There are potentially dangerous side effects and remissions are short lived; probably not more than 25 per cent of those treated obtain prolonged benefit, according to Hench.1 Great pressure is being exerted upon the medical practitioners throughout the country by sufferers from arthritis for a trial with these "new drugs. " The relative infrequency with which any enduring improvement is noted war-rants caution on the part of the physician who plans to administer them. Hench and others have done much to stimulate thinking about rheumatoid arthritis, and it is hoped that in the not too distant future the etiology of the disease may be apparent and its cure or prevention possible. It may be