Arthritis News, Articles, & Information

Several studies have linked rheumatoid arthritis with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and myocardial infarctions (heart attacks).

One study, published in the journal Circulation in 2003 involved 114,342 women from the Nurses Health Study who were followed for 18 years. At the end of the study, 7,786 women (7%) reported to have developed symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers found that both heart attacks and strokes were more common in women with rheumatoid arthritis relative to those without the disease.

After controlling for several variables including cholesterol, age, physical activity, BMI, and alcohol consumption, heart attacks were found to be twice as common in the rheumatoid arthritis group compared to the women without rheumatoid arthritis. Strokes were 1.5 times more common in the rheumatoid arthritis group however the association between strokes and rheumatoid arthritis was not statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.

A second study, published in 2006 by researchers out of Boston found similar results. That study included both men and women and found that rheumatoid arthritis sufferers were 1.6 times more likely to have one of three events: a stroke, a heart attack, or dying from cardiovascular disease.

The study also found that people who developed rheumatoid arthritis at a young age (before 40) had the greatest increase in cardiovascular risk. They were 3.3 times more likely to have one of the three events than a person of the same age without the illness.

While rheumatoid arthritis does not appear to be as significant a risk factor for cardiovascular disease as other known risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, or obesity - rheumatoid arthritis sufferers do appear to be at a small, but significant increased risk of cardiovascular disease and therefore need to take extra care of their heart.

It is thought that certain genes, that are known to increase the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis may also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. It is also possible that heavy use of NSAID’s and other drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis may also increase cardiovascular disease risk.

According to Dr. Christopher Edwards, one of the authors of the Boston study, “Our findings are just another piece of evidence that demonstrates rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease and patients need systemic care. You can’t just look after their joints.”