Tackling ischaemic heart disease in rheumatoid arthritis
Open Access
- 31 March 2003
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Rheumatology
- Vol. 42 (5) , 607-613
- https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keg175
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the commonest form of chronic inflammatory arthritis. It causes significant disability and the efforts of the scientific community have concentrated on controlling symptoms, decelerating joint damage and improving function. However, it has been known for 50 yr [ 1] that RA is also associated with increased mortality [ 2, 3]. For severe RA, this compares to that of major killers such as triple‐vessel coronary heart disease (CHD) and some lymphomas [ 4, 5]. Despite advances in treatment, the mortality of RA does not appear to have changed over the last three decades [ 6, 7]. Its control, therefore, merits at least as much attention as the reduction of disability. An obvious target is reduction of cardiovascular mortality, which accounts for almost half of all deaths in RA [ 2, 3, 8]. In this article we describe the nature and significance of the problem, discuss the evidence for the involvement of atherosclerotic CHD, outline the role of classical and some novel cardiovascular risk factors, introduce potential lines for intervention, and provide a literature base for the interested reader.Keywords
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