What Are The Risks For Heart Disease From Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive, systemic, autoimmune disease for which there is no current cure. It is a common disorder affecting more than 2.1 million Americans.
Patients who present with complications of RA outside the joints- what is termed extra-articular disease- are at particular risk for early death. Extraarticular problems that can be seen in RA include, skin ulcers, anemia, eye inflammation, lung inflammation and damage, heart disease, inflammation of blood vessels, and rheumatoid nodules(these are bumps consisting of inflamed tissue that grow at certain areas such as the fingers, elbows, heels, and back of the skull).
A predictor of the presence of extra-articular disease is the level of rheumatoid factor in the blood. The higher the rheumatoid factor, the more likely a patient will have extra-articular disease.
A newer blood marker, the anti-CCP (anti cyclic citrullinated peptide), also appears to predict higher risk of extra-articular problems as well as more severe disease.
The bottom line is that RA is not a benign condition. In fact, it carries the same mortality as first heart attacks, untreated diabetes, and stage 4 Hodgkins disease in some studies. RA must be diagnosed and treated aggressively.
Probably the primary cause of the increased mortality is cardiovascular death. […]

Full Article At: KnowHow-Now.com Articles