Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease in which the immune system attacks healthy tissue around the joints, causing inflammation and pain.
But the concern with sufferers of this autoimmune disease may not be the pain in their joints, but rather the risk to their hearts.
There are a number of drugs at the doctor’s disposal to treat the inflammation and pain caused by the condition, but some are now known to have a negative effect on the health of the patient’s heart. The potential damage could knock 10 to 15 years off your lifespan.
For more than 60 years, steroids have been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. But the drug has been shown to impact on the blood pressure and blood glucose, increasing the risk of damage to the heart.
The use of steroids to treat the disease has also been linked to increased stiffness in the arteries as well as the dangerous build up of deposits in the carotid artery.
So are the risks eliminated with the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)? No, NSAIDs raise the patient’s blood pressure and increase cardiovascular risks.
But it is not all bad news for people living with rheumatoid arthritis. Some medications used to treat the disease reduce the risk of heart problems.
Methotrexate is a disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug which has been found to reduce deaths linked to cardiovascular damage by up to 70 percent.
This is due, it is believed, to a reduction in the build up of fatty deposits which lead to the hardening and thickening of artery walls and the clearance of the cells that form the fatty deposits.
Drugs from the TNF inhibitor group, also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, can also reduce the risk of damage to the heart by almost half.
Knowing how the medication you take can affect you is important; speak to your doctor if you have any concerns about the side effects of your prescribed drugs.
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