High Heart Risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis increases risk of heart disease

06/14/2012

Patients suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis have a significantly increased risk of heart disease. Atrial fibrillation and strokes would be much more common in these patients than in the healthy population, according to the Association of German Rheumatologists (BDRh) in Wiesbaden. Therefore, doctors advise to regular examinations.

For rheumatoid arthritis, further reduce risk factors for heart disease
According to a recent study from Denmark, among 50-year-old rheumatoid arthritis patients, atrial fibrillation or stroke is three times more common than in people without the previous disease. This is what the physicians of the BDRh refer to. More than 18,000 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were examined for the Danish study.

Edmund Edelmann, chairman of the BDRh, adds that taking medicines that include glucocorticoids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may also promote cardiac arrhythmias. Other risk factors for heart disease should be avoided. These include, for example, smoking, overweight and high blood lipid and blood pressure (high blood pressure). Patients who also have diabetes should be treated in any case.

Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common inflammatory joint disease
Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory rheumatic disease that has been shown to alter blood vessels at an early stage. The disease affects the entire body and usually worsens increasingly. Often rheumatoid arthritis occurs in batches. In the first place joints, tendon sheaths and bursae are affected, which are destroyed in the course of the disease. This leads to deformations and axial deviations with restricted movement. Women are affected more often than men. (Ag)

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