People With Rheumatoid Arthritis
In: Random
3 Feb 2010Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is not only a disease of the joints. It is a systemic disease that can kill. Studies have shown that RA has a significant mortality attributed to it. Consider this: In mid to late 1980, a middle-aged man with RA can expect to have the same life expectancy as if he had non-Hodgkin lymphoma or three-vessel coronary artery.
While these alarming statistics have changed somewhat for the better, the picture of mortality in people with rheumatoid arthritis is still not rosy.
Why this increased mortality occur? Because it is a systemic disease, RA can lead to complications. One complication of this type is vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels). In inflammation of blood vessels occurs in a major organ such as brain or heart, a major problem can occur. Eye inflammation can cause blindness. And the participation of RA in the spine, particularly in the neck, can cause compression of the spinal cord. Patients can develop progressive lung disease with serious problems leading to late interstitial lung function in terminal phase.
Unfortunately, some medications used to treat the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis may also affect renal function.
