Rheumatoid arthritis is a devastating inflammatory joint disease with a prevalence of about 0.5% in China. It was once called the “undead cancer” in the 1980s, and many patients suffered from the disease for a long time, eventually ending up with joint deformity and disability. But in the past two decades, with the progress of modern medicine and the introduction of new drugs, the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has improved significantly, and the goal of treatment is no longer limited to “symptom control”, but “long-term relief”, to stop joint destruction. Myth 1: Western medicine has a lot of side effects, Chinese medicine has no side effects, and Chinese medicine is better than Western medicine. In fact, “medicine is poisonous in three parts”, regardless of Chinese medicine and western medicine. As our laws are not yet sound, most people lack knowledge of disease science, the streets, including the Internet, are flooded with false advertising (it is strongly recommended not to use Baidu search), some charlatans and private hospitals are taking advantage of this psychology of patients, with the so-called “pure Chinese medicine, ancestral secret recipe” to confuse patients, many people fall for it, and finally not only spent The patient’s condition is often aggravated, or the original simple condition becomes complicated. The most commonly used and clearly effective drugs include methotrexate, leflunomide, hydroxychloroquine, salbutamol and biologics. Biologics have been the most important development in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis in the last decade, and have been proven to be superior to traditional drugs in terms of efficacy and safety in a large number of clinical practices. Therefore, once rheumatoid arthritis is diagnosed, it is important to see an experienced rheumatologist at a regular hospital, who will develop a different treatment plan based on the patient’s specific situation. Myth 2: You can’t take hormones and you will become addicted to them. This view is not comprehensive. The status of hormones in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has fluctuated several times. Twenty to thirty years ago, high doses of hormones used to be one of the main treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, but it was soon discovered that they could not stop joint destruction, but brought about serious side effects such as femoral head necrosis and osteoporosis. Nowadays, hormones are rarely used as the first choice of treatment, but for some joint symptoms are very serious, taking conventional NSAIDs still cannot relieve the symptoms, and methotrexate, leflunomide and other drugs have not yet taken effect, international advocates the use of small doses of hormones (equivalent to 1-3 tablets of prednisone per day) for 3-6 months. The use of hormones is also required for some combined systemic symptoms or when there is internal organ involvement. Therefore, hormone abuse and blind opposition to hormone use are undesirable. The specific timing and dosage of hormone use should be decided by a specialist according to the actual situation. Myth 3: Stop using hormones when the joints don’t hurt anymore. Some patients, after a period of treatment, symptoms are reduced, the condition is relieved, worried about the side effects of long-term medication, so they stop the medication. In fact, rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease that is not yet curable. Moreover, improvement in clinical symptoms is not equivalent to complete remission of the disease. The absence of pain may only be superficial, and random discontinuation of remission drugs such as methotrexate can lead to continued disease progression. Therefore most patients need to choose one or two of these drugs for long-term maintenance. Myth 4: Long-term maintenance with the same drugs is fine if you buy them at the pharmacy. This view is shared by many patients and is actually wrong and dangerous. Regular follow-up visits to the hospital are not just about dispensing medications. Since most drugs that provide relief have some side effects, doctors should not only observe the efficacy of the drugs, but also monitor for adverse drug reactions. Patients with stable conditions should also be followed up every 3 months to 6 months with appropriate tests. In conclusion, as modern medicine has updated its understanding of rheumatoid arthritis and its treatment perspectives, the efficacy is gradually improving. Rheumatoid arthritis has changed from an “incurable disease” to a “treatable disease”. This requires early and standardized treatment under the guidance of a specialist to get out of the misunderstanding.