Biologics are they for you?

Biologics Are They For You

Dr. Mona Marabani
Rheumatologist
President, Australian Rheumatology Association

When people start out they wonder how can I ever be better from this. How am I ever going to be normal. So my job is to keep reminding them that’s the aim of the game. The aim is for you to feel normal, to be able to do the things you want to do and what we’ve got to work out along the way is how to achieve that. What combination of things is going to work for you and without a shadow of a doubt for those people with bad disease, biologics have been a game changer; there’s no two ways about it. It is actually very delightful and gratifying to see people’s lives turn around with the use of these types of therapy.

Ray Paulley
Retired teacher, cycling enthusiast
Psoriatic Arthritis

They’d showed me the light at the end of the tunnel when I got onto that. It’s not necessarily the biological, it’s getting onto the right medication for you. In my case, it was that – the biological – but I’d imagine in other cases it would be something else. But my message would be, you’ve got to get onto that right medication that’s delivering the results as demonstrated by the blood tests for you and you certainly feel it when you get to that point.

Assoc. Professor Peter Youssef
Rheumatologist, Royal Prince Alfred Institute of Rheumatology and Orthopaedics, Sydney
Chair – Arthritis Australia Scientific Advisory Committee

These drugs have evolved significantly from the original drug which was an infusion given as a drip into an arm. There are now drugs that are given subcutaneously, some drugs are given weekly, some drugs are given fortnightly, and some drugs are given monthly.

Dr. Irwin Lim
Rheumatologist

Now there are a whole range of biologic disease-modifying agents available in Australia to be prescribing the PBS.

Dr. Mona Marabani
Rheumatologist
President, Australian Rheumatology Association

Well, selection of biologics is a tricky thing and they are at this stage all injectable drugs and there are certainly people who don’t like the idea of injecting themselves.

Ray Paulley
Retired teacher, cycling enthusiast
Psoriatic Arthritis

That biological that I take I take it by injection and I do that regularly. Once in the left side one time. Once in the right. It’s quite easy. In fact it doesn’t even feel like an injection. It’s painless and it keeps my condition well under control. It enables me to pretty much do whatever it is I want to do. Whereas I couldn’t even put my socks on before.

Dr. Mona Marabani
Rheumatologist
President, Australian Rheumatology Association

It is a big shock for people in the same way that teaching a diabetic to give insulin is but if you put it in those terms this is going to be a drug that enables you to maintain your independence, to not have to be queuing up at the doctors to be injected; I think most people really surprisingly will rise to the occasion.