Doctor0 I Have Rheumatoid Arthritis And I0m Short Of Breath. What0s Going On?

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, progressive, systemic, autoimmune condition for which there is no known cure. It is a common disorder affecting approximately 2.1 million Americans.
While it is technically a form of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis is a true systemic disease in which multiple organ systems can be affected.
Among these are the skin with vasculitic ulcers, eyes leading to scleritis or episcleritis (inflammatory eye disease), glands that make saliva and tears leading to dryness of the eyes and mouth, lymph nodes sometimes causing lymphoma, cardiovascular system leading to early heart attack and stroke, and the lungs.
Lung involvement can take multiple forms. Rheumatoid arthritis can cause pleurisy (inflammation of the lining of the lungs), nodules within the lungs, pneumonia, inflammation of the small airways (bronchitis and bronchiolitis), and inflammation of the lung tissue. This latter condition is called interstitial lung disease.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are examined clinically and sometimes interstitial lung disease is a finding that is picked up on physical examination.
Prior to starting drugs such as TNF inhibitors (Enbrel, Humira, Remicade), a chest x-ray is also obtained and sometimes interstitial lung disease is found then. However, chest x-ray is not very sensitive for picking up interstitial lung disease early.
A recent study […]

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