Can Gold Injections Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Whatever else researchers may come to discover about gold injections, it is already known that gold compounds have a unique effect on inflammatory illnesses. 

Various treatments for rheumatoid arthritis have been attempted over the last 75 years. The disease is progressive and currently incurable, beginning with symptoms in the hands and feet and eventually leading to more severe manifestations, including fatigue, bone erosion, and deformities. Medications have served to slow the progression of the disease, and other treatment therapies can assist patients in coping with symptomatic flare-ups.

One of the earliest treatments of rheumatoid arthritis was gold injections, an inflammation blocker that was proven to have high rates of symptom remission. However, gold injections also developed a reputation for having severe side effects, as they were not well tolerated by many patients. The use of gold injections has since been in decline as technological advancements have led to the distribution of superior and better-tolerated RA medicines.

Still, gold injections may have some applications in studying inflammatory diseases, and researchers have taken to examining the effectiveness and usefulness of these injections in contemporary treatments of related autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. It is not uncommon for researchers to review old therapies, but studying gold injections has a unique incentive: researchers believe that gold injections could lead to new treatment options for patients living with rheumatoid arthritis, and even if they do not, they could resurge as a more cost-effective option for those willing to deal with the side effects.

In the 1920s, gold injections were the standard form of treatment for moderate to severe RA. During those times, a similar type of gold compound was used to treat tuberculosis. Researchers at the time believed RA and tuberculosis were related to each other, but this theory was later disproven. The gold compound that was injected into RA patients was called sodium aurothiomalate, which contained traces of gold, hence the name. This compound is essentially a DMARD drug (used to slow the progression of rheumatoid arthritis).

It is still a mystery as to how gold injections function, but the evidence that they have anti-inflammatory properties is indisputable. Unfortunately, while other medicines tend to limit or inhibit the immune response, gold injections are known to increase the risk of illness significantly. Apart from this risk, these injections also have other severe side effects, which is why they are now rarely used.

These injections are not painkillers and so do not reduce the symptoms; they work by blocking the inflammation caused by the patient’s overactive immune system, so the gold must be injected into the muscle tissues. This is where the compound is absorbed and then spread to other parts of the body. It can take up to three months to start seeing any improvements in the condition, and in certain cases, patients may not experience relief at all and would need to seek out a different treatment route.

A drug called methotrexate has replaced gold injections as the current standard of treatment for RA patients. But researchers are still carrying out their studies and looking for ways to reintroduce gold injections into the mainline treatment process.