Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Rheumatoid Arthritis Mortality Has Not Changed in 20 Years
Janis Kelly writing in Medscape reported that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has continued to
have higher mortality rates compared with the general population, and these have not
improved since 1990, researchers report in an article published in Arthritis Care & Research.
Mortality was particularly elevated in autoantibody-positive patients, write J. H. Humphreys, MBChB, MRCP,
from the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research,
Institute of Inflammation and Repair, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health
Science Centre, United Kingdom, and colleagues. "Mortality rates in early RA have improved,
but so have the rates in the general population," senior author Suzanne M. M. Verstappen, PhD,
also from the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, told Medscape Medical News.
Comment: While these results are disappointing, the full benefit of biologic therapy on mortality
may not be seen for several years.