Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, meaning that the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells, believing them to be foreign bodies. It can result in the breakdown of cartilage in the joints causing pain, stiffness and giving people difficulties in moving. The disease is problematic enough on its own, but new research suggests that aside from being a painful, debilitating condition, it also puts you at a greater risk of having a heart attack.
The study, which was presented at the Annual Congress of the European League against Rheumatism, has revealed that people with rheumatoid arthritis are up to six times more likely to have a heart attack than people who don’t have the condition. Research also inferred that women under 50 years old with rheumatoid arthritis were the most at risk.
Rheumatoid arthritis is well known for having links with other conditions. Previous research has revealed that having the condition can cause you to develop anemia, neck pain and inflammation of the blood vessels. However, this study links it to the hardening of the arteries which can lead to the subject having a heart attack or a stroke up to ten years earlier than people who don’t have the condition.
The study, which looked at the entire Danish population, spanned ten years and compared patients of rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes to examine their individual risk of having a heart attack. From the 4.6 million population of Denmark, 10,547 individuals developed rheumatoid arthritis and 132,868 developed diabetes.
Having diabetes increased the risk of a heart attack by 1.73, while having rheumatoid arthritis made the risk 1.65 times more likely. However, for women with arthritis who were under 50, there was a shocking six fold increase in the risk factor.
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