Rheumatoid Arthritis Associated with Increased Risk of COPD

Written on 03 November 2017. Posted in Rheumatology News & Perspectives

New findings suggest that people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may be at increased risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Previous research has shown a link between COPD and inflammation, raising the question of whether chronic inflammatory diseases, such as RA, are predisposing to COPD. To investigate this issue, scientists examined data from 24,625 people diagnosed with RA between 1996 and 2006 in the Canadian province of British Columbia and compared them to 25,396 controls.

They found that people with RA had an increased risk of developing COPD, compared with controls, with an increased risk of 47% of hospitalization for COPD after correction for potential confounding factors. such as comorbidities.

"These findings are innovative because it has only recently been recognized that inflammation plays a role in the development of COPD, and clinicians treating people with rheumatoid arthritis do not know that their patients are at increased risk of developing COPD, "said the author, Dr. Diane Lacaille. "Our results highlight the need to control inflammation and actually aim for its complete elimination by the effective treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. "

The results were published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research .

Reference

McGuire, Katherine, et al. "Risk of Incident Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Population Based Cohort Study." Arthritis Care & Research (2017).

Tags: rheumatoid arthritis