Prosorba column treatment for RA

[Guest guest]

This was on our local news last night. has anyone else heard of this or

tried it?

Non-drug treatment helps rheumatoid

arthritis sufferer

SPRINGFIELD – People diagnosed with rheumatoid

arthritis have faced lives of excruciating pain and

disability

or even death. But a woman from Springfield who has the

disease now is in complete remission and living pain-free

because of a recently-approved treatment.

Rheumatoid arthritis is called the “Great

Crippler.” The disease

affects between 2 million and 3 million

Americans, most of whom are

20 - 50 years old. Becky Patton was among the

first in the U.S. to try

a new drug-free treatment that the Food and

Drug Administration

approved about a year ago.

“I remember the early days,” Patton

recalled. “Loren was only 3. I

would sit on bedroom floor trying to dress this

little girl with little

zippers and little buttons. There was no way I

could get my hands

to work. I would sit there and just cry in

horrible pain. I couldn’t

believe that every day was going to be like

that.”

That was three years ago when Patton was

first diagnosed with

rheumatoid arthritis and told she would be in a

wheel chair within 10

to 15 years.

“It’s pretty hard to be happy when you

feel bad all day,

everyday,” said Mike Patton, Becky’s husband.

“It’s pretty hard for

everybody to be happy. You can’t help them. I

didn’t know what to

do.”

Doctors say rheumatoid arthritis is a

disease that usually strikes

people in their prime.

Dr. Winkler: “Up to this point, 50 percent

of people have to

change jobs in 10 years,” said Dr. Anne

Winkler, a rheumatologist.

“The other 50 percent have to go on disability,

so you’re talking

about people on disability at 30. It’s lifelong

because they can’t

function in a job anymore. That doesn’t even

count not being able

to pick up their baby or play ball with their

son.”

But today, Becky Patton can play ball with

her kids because of a

new non-drug type of treatment called the

Prosorba® Column. She

is one of the first people in the Ozarks to try

it.

The column is a dialysis-like treatment

that removes the blood

and filters the plasma through the column. The

column has a

purified sticky protein that grabs hold of

antibodies or whatever

substances perpetuate rheumatoid arthritis.

Then the filtered blood

is returned to the patient.

Patton had the treatment once a week for

12 weeks here in

Springfield. By the 11th week, she says she was

pain-free.

“Man, I felt like a spring colt,” she

said. “I started exercising

again. I’m feeling great – a lot more like

myself.

“I can braid my daughter’s hair.”

Patton’s doctor is excited about the new

treatment, too.

“Now we have a non-drug way to treat them

better, which is nice

for people who can’t take drugs,” Winkler said.

“Some people,

every drug, can’t take it because of side

effects.”

Those side effects from rheumatoid drugs

range from hair and

weight loss to bleeding ulcers and liver

disease. Three new arthritis

drugs have come out within the last year and a

half that help some

patients get control of their rheumatoid

arthritis. But Patton had

failed on four different drugs before she tried

the Prosorba®

Column.

“I encourage people to try it, if you’ve

failed on drugs or if you

don’t want to be on drugs,” Patton said.

Patton was in a lot of pain and got

discouraged at times while

she was taking the column treatments because

her doctors took her

off all drugs, letting the rheumatoid arthritis

grip her body. Future

patients may be allowed to continue taking

drugs while they use

the Prosorba® Column, eliminating that period

of pain.

Doctors say this non-drug treatment is a

great option not only

for people who cannot tolerate the drugs but

for younger women

who want to become pregnant but can’t when they

take the drugs.

Patton’s insurance company covered this

treatment but some

companies have dragged their feet about

covering it. A couple of

patients in this area have been unable to start

the treatment

because their insurance has refused to cover

it, even though the

Prosorba® Column is now an FDA-approved

treatment.

Patton’s remission could last two years or

more before she has

to have her blood filtered again, then her next

remission could last

even longer.

“It’s amazing. I’m grateful to God and to

my friends who prayed

me through it,” Patton said.