RESEARCH - RA a threat to the heart; greaeter risk of heart attack, and more complications later

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Rheumatoid Arthritis a Threat to the Heart

Greater risk of heart attack, and more complications later, studies find

Posted October 27, 2008

By Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- People newly diagnosed with

rheumatoid arthritis face twice the risk of a heart attack, and those

who do suffer a heart attack tend to have more heart-related

complications, new research says.

It seems that a condition called diastolic dysfunction, which causes

the lower chambers of the heart to become stiff, is the culprit.

Diastolic dysfunction impairs the ability of the ventricles to fill

with blood and can lead to heart failure, the researchers said.

These are the conclusions of three reports presented at the American

College of Rheumatology (ACR) annual scientific meeting, which runs

from Oct. 24-29, in San Francisco.

" Rheumatoid arthritis patients not only have more heart attacks and

heart failures, but they also have worse prognosis once they have a

cardiovascular event, " said Dr. Hilal Maradit Kremers, lead researcher

on one of the studies and an epidemiologist at the Mayo Clinic in

Rochester, Minn.

For the study, Kremers' team followed 38 patients with rheumatoid

arthritis who had suffered a heart attack. Then they compared these

patients with patients without rheumatoid arthritis who also had a

heart attack.

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is-a-threat-to-the-heart.html

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