Inflammation, Cardiovascular Problems and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Newswise — Long-term systemic, or widespread, inflammation experienced by patients with rheumatoid arthritis leads to an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Orlando, Florida.

The relationship between inflammation from rheumatic disease and cardiovascular disease is an emerging field of study, and this research offers another indication that they are linked. The study used data resources from the Rochester Epidemiology Project in Minnesota to identify a group of 603 adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis, followed for approximately 40 years from the time they were diagnosed. Researchers estimated the influence of 13 traditional heart disease risk factors such as weight, cigarette and alcohol use, diabetes and high blood pressure, and for eight rheumatoid arthritis disease characteristics.

The study revealed that, independent of the common risk cardiovascular disease factors, several key characteristics of severe rheumatoid arthritis stood out as being associated with markedly higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease: high erythrocyte sedimentation rate and large-joint swelling at incidence, rheumatoid arthritis complications including rheumatoid arthritis-related vasculitis or lung disease, and destructive changes on X-ray of the joints.

According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among adults in the United States, affecting one in five adults and causing nearly one million deaths annually. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are twice as likely to develop serious cardiovascular disease.

"An important goal of our research is to raise awareness of the risks of cardiovascular disease among people with rheumatoid arthritis," said Sherine Gabriel, MD, professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and the senior investigator in the study. "The characterization of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease will help us to identify those patients with rheumatoid arthritis at highest risk in order to better target our preventive strategies."

The American College of Rheumatology is the professional organization for rheumatologists and health professionals who share a dedication to healing, preventing disability and curing arthritis and related rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. For more information on the ACR's annual meeting, see http://www.rheumatology.org/annual.