Researchers have confirmed that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are twice as likely to also have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The study of 15,766 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 15,340 health controls found that the prevalence of COPD was significantly higher in RA patients than healthy controls (8.9 per cent vs. 4.4 per cent, p<0.001).
Interestingly, the link was still significant (p<0.001) after risk factors common in both RA and COPD patients, such as smoking, obesity and socioeconomic status, were controlled for.
Rheumatoid arthritis
“We know that similar changes in core physiological processes cause symptoms in RA and COPD and we hope that the results of our study prompts new research into potential links between altered genetic and autoimmune processes in the two conditions” said Dr. Amital of the Sheba Medical Centre, Israel.
The large, population-based case-control study was performed using the patient database of Israel’s largest healthcare provider, Clalit Health Services.
The prevalence of COPD was compared between RA patients over 20 years of age and a sample of age- and gender-matched patients without RA (the control group).
The study was presented at the EULAR 2011 Annual Congress.
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Research has confirmed there is a link between rheumatoid arthritis and COPD.
Previous studies have pointed to a connection between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and rheumatoid arthritis, but now a large study has confirmed it.
COPD is a type of lung disease that causes sufferers difficulty in breathing and it is most commonly associated with smoking. Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissues, which causes a range of symptoms, including fatigue and weakness, as well as pain in the joints.
Wanting to definitively ascertain whether the two diseases were linked, researchers from the Sheba Medical Centre, Israel, looked data from 15,766 patients who had RA, as well as 15,340 who did not. What they found was that RA patients were twice as likely to have COPD as the control group. Even once they took into account other factors that can affect people with both RA and COPD, such as smoking, obesity and socioeconomic status, the correlation was still in evidence.
The next step would be to ascertain exactly how or why these two diseases are linked, thereby increasing our understanding of other factors that may increase a person’s likelihood of developing them.