There are many different types of arthritis and each has a specific set of symptoms and areas it affects, as such the treatment options for each of the individual conditions is different. Rheumatoid arthritis focuses largely on inflammation of the joints caused by infection and for that reason it’s often treated with drugs which alter or supposedly enhance a patient’s immune system. The issue with playing around with a person’s immune system is that it can negatively impact them in other ways. The immune system is the body’s last line of defence against the outside world and if it fails to protect you from an outside agent then you’re going to suffer.
Shingles is an infectious condition which occurs in around 0.8 of every hundred human years according to a recent study. Quite why they chose this method of displaying their results is beyond this writer but in general it appears to be a relatively rare condition if an unpleasant one. In sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis who are taking certain types of treatments (generally anti-tumour necrosis factor treatments) this likelihood doubles and becomes 1.6 out of every hundred human years.
The study was observational in nature and as such it’s impossible to draw definitive conclusions in terms of cause and effect. Regardless of not knowing for certain we can postulate and try and piece together some reasons as to why this occurs. For the moment scientists are under the impression that the alterations which many of the anti-tumour necrosis factor treatments make to the body’s immune system somehow supresses its resistance to certain infections, shingles included. This suppression in effectiveness leaves the body open to attack and inevitably, infection.
Further study will be required before anything concrete is taken from this collection of data but in the long run it could allow doctors to better predict the infection of shingles or even alter treatments in those patients who’re in higher risk groups.
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