Study: Rheumatoid Arthritis Significantly Increases Risk of Death

Men and women over the age of 40 with rheumatoid arthritis appear to have a significantly greater risk of death from any cause than healthy people or those with osteoarthritis, according to a report in the Journal of Rheumatology.

In analyzing a database containing almost 2.5 million records of British patients, researchers found over a five-year period, people with rheumatoid arthritis were 60 to 70 percent more likely to die than patients with osteoarthritis or no arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients were also 30 to 60 percent more likely to suffer some type of cardiovascular problem such as a heart attack or stroke, the researchers reported.

People with osteoarthritis, a progressive deterioration in the cartilage of joints that generally strikes at an older age than rheumatoid arthritis, had "essentially the same" risk of death or cardiovascular complications as those without arthritis, the researchers added.

"Compared to patients with osteoarthritis and those with no arthritis, patients with rheumatoid arthritis had a higher age and gender adjusted incidence of all-cause mortality and of major vascular events during almost 5 years of followup," the researchers concluded.

Other sources: The Journal of Rheumatology