Cardiovascular risk falls in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Inflammation is known to contribute to blood vessel damage and is one of the risk factors for heart disease.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have higher levels of inflammation overall, affecting not only joints but also other organs and tissues.

Researchers led by Dr. Elena Myasoedova, PhD, a rheumatologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, looked at deaths from heart disease within 10 years of rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis among two groups of people. The rate of death from heart disease in patients diagnosed in the 1980s and 1990s stood at 7.9%, compared with 2.8% in those diagnosed in 2000-07.