For most victims arthritis simply means pain and stiffness in the joints--sometimes moderate, sometimes severe, usually responsive to treatment with one of a number of drugs. Pain can be just the beginning, though, for the more than 2 million Americans who suffer from the variant of the disease known as rheumatoid arthritis. This unfortunate minority may experience not just discomfort but also joint deformities, fatigue, nodules of tissue under the skin and inside internal organs and, in rare cases, inflammation of the membranes surrounding the heart and lungs.
Unfortunately, even the most powerful existing medications, like Methotrexate, either carry unacceptable side...