Smoking impairs the drug response due to biological drugs used to treat inflammatory arthritis affecting the lower back, a condition called AxSpA.
The researchers tracked the treatment response to a class of specific biological drugs in 700 patients with confirmed AxSpA. Their response to treatment was assessed using recognized criteria: BASDAI and ASDAS scores. The results showed that having smoked in the past didn’t affect the response to treatment, but current smoking did. Compared with the non-smokers, current smokers responded significantly less well to their drug treatment.
Although the researchers say it is still exactly not clear on how smoking impairs response to treatment.
Source: Medical Xpress
