KOCHI: In a rare achievement, Kochi-based rheumatologist Dr Padmanabha Shenoy has been able to get his research paper published in the peer reviewed international journal published from London Arthritis Research and Therapy The paper was published after his observation study on 60 patients on the efficacy of two generic drugs for treating a rare killer disease ‘Scleroderma’. Scleroderma is a chronic autoimmune rheumatic disease. Hardening of the skin is one of the most visible manifestations of the disease. It rapidly progresses and affects a large area of the skin and one or more internal organs, oesophagus, heart and/or lungs. The lung also shrinks.
“Nearly 40 per cent of the patients who are afflicted with the disease succumb to it within five years, which is five times higher than the mortality rate for breast cancer. About 4 lakh people in the country are afflicted with the disease,” says Dr Shenoy who says that they can now hope for quality life. Mycophenolate mofetil tablet and cyclophosphamide injection which are commonly used as immune modulators have been scientifically proved in his study by Dr Shenoy as having useful in controlling Scleroderma, which has earned him the recognition.
