What you need to know > Aim for remission or low disease activity as the target for treatment > To begin treatment, use one disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) and increase the dose, before adding another DMARD, if needed > Consider short term bridging therapy with glucocorticoids when starting a new conventional synthetic DMARD > Consider oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for uncontrolled pain or stiffness > Offer the lowest effective dose of NSAID for the shortest possible time, with a proton pump inhibitor and review risk factors for adverse events regularly. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.