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Study Shows Link Between Rheumatoid Arthritis and Heart Disease
Previous research has revealed that rheumatoid arthritis patients have a higher risk of early death, most likely due to cardiovascular disease. Mayo Clinic researchers have concluded from a study that not only do people with rheumatoid arthritis have a higher risk of coronary heart disease than the general population, they have more silent, unrecognized heart attacks and more sudden cardiac deaths. Rheumatoid arthritis patients, however, are much less likely to complain of chest pain.
Mayo Clinic researchers studied 603 Rochester residents diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis between January 1, 1955 and January 1, 1995. Researchers compared that group to 603 Rochester residents of the same ages and gender who did not have rheumatoid arthritis. Both groups were followed up for a median of 26 years before rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis and 15 years after diagnosis. Information was gathered about all study participants, focusing on cardiac events and traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index, and smoking.
Researchers believe the increased heart disease risk may exist even prior to the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. During the two years before diagnosis with rheumatoid arthritis, people with rheumatoid arthritis were: three times more likely to have been hospitalized for an acute heart attack; less likely to have a history of chest pains and five times more likely to have an unrecognized heart attack.
Researchers believe that in rheumatoid arthritis patients, more than one factor is contributing to the association with heart disease, other than the so-called traditional risk factors for heart disease. It has been theorized that rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease have a common origin, and that the systemic inflammation involved in rheumatoid arthritis might also promote cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular death.
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