Rheumatoid Arthritis Increases The Risk of Stroke

Recent investigations have brought rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to the spotlight of cardiovascular health. First it was found that people with RA had an increased risk of heart disease, and now a recent study presented at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting has found that RA also increases the risk of stroke. The study which included more than 33,000 people with RA, found a clear increase in the incidence of stroke in people with RA relative to people without the disease. The increased incidence was significant even after the effect on stroke-risk by factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes were isolated.

Although this is a very important finding, it is not surprising. Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease precipitated by a chronic and abnormal inflammatory reaction of the immune system against the body’s own tissues, especially affecting the joints. Other diseases in which there is chronic activation of the immune system also appear to be linked to adverse cardiovascular events including strokes. A well known example of this concept is lupus erythematosus.

Needless to say much research must be done before we can begin to understand how RA increases the risk of stroke. But a possible link between RA and stroke is the emerging importance that inflammation appears to have in atherosclerosis, a major link in the chain that leads to most types of stroke.

Related: Lupus and Stroke