Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients At Higher Risk For Unrecognized Heart Disease And Cardiac Sudden Death

Published: September 4, 2007, 5:51 am

People with rheumatoid arthritis not only have a higher risk of coronary heart disease than those in the general population, but they have more silent, unrecognized heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the February issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism . They are also much less likely to complain of chest pain. The increased heart disease risk may be present even before the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, according to the researchers. During the two years before diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, patients with this disease were three times more likely to have been hospitalized for an acute heart attack and five times more likely to have an unrecognized heart attack. They were also less likely to have had a history of chest pain, compared to those without rheumatoid arthritis. After their diagnosis, the rheumatoid arthritis patients were twice as likely to experience unrecognized heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths. Hilal

[ Full article ]

Blog link

Rating: 0

Comments