New findings about rheumatoid arthritis

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New findings about rheumatoid arthritis

05:41 PM PST on Saturday, March 12, 2005

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

Say rheumatoid arthritis and most people think joint pain and stiffness. But the illness can also affect the lungs, causing shortness of breath and a constant cough. Now, new information may lead to better treatments.

After several trips to the hospital with frightening chest pains, Lloyd was finally diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis lung disease.

"I thought I was having heart attacks, then I started getting into pain, a lot of pain," she said.

Her lung disease is a result of her rheumatoid arthritis. Until now, rheumatologists haven't known much about causes and treatments of RA lung disease.

"The experience has been that the drugs that we commonly use just seem to cause a lot of debility and side affects, without really doing much to help the lung disease," said rheumatologist Dr. Matteson.

Research shows that RA lung disease operates differently than other forms of lung disease, and should be treated differently.

"There may be treatments available or coming available that can be more specifically targeted to the type of cell and type of lesion that we see in the lung," Matteson said.

Researchers found that T cells of the immune system are more abundant in patients with RA lung disease and cause extra inflammation. Knowing the types of cells involved helps doctors distinguish RA's appearance from other lung diseases.

"We hope that these findings will give us better understanding of the kinds of treatments that we need to address the problems the patients who have rheumatoid arthritis and in particular rheumatoid lung disease," Matteson said.

Lloyd continues to fight her disease while trying to live a normal life. Her doctor said it's working -- there's no sign her lung disease is progressing.

Smokers are at higher risk of getting RA lung disease

Of the 2.1 million Americans who have rheumatoid arthritis, nearly one-fourth will develop rheumatoid lung disease.

http://www.king5.com/health/stories/NW_031205HEKINGONLYrhematoidarthritisEL.130dbebec.html

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