Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who eat a gluten-free vegan diet could be better protected against heart attacks and stroke. RA is a major risk factor for these cardiovascular diseases, but a gluten-free vegan diet was shown to lower cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and oxidizedLDL, as well as raising the levels of natural antibodies against the damaging compounds in the body that cause symptoms of the chronic inflammatory disease rheumatoid arthritis, such as phosphorylcholine.

Investigators at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a new mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. The mechanism may also shed some light on why gene therapy experiments that use adenoviruses to deliver genes to humans have run into problems. The study will appear online on March 16 in the journal Nature Immunology.

Patients prescribed drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis could be at a reduced risk of heart attacks and strokes, according to a study published today in the open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy.

In an article recommended by Annelies Boonen of Faculty of 1000 Medicine, researchers look at the way rheumatoid arthritis is diagnosed by analysing the administrative databases used by physicians in Quebec.

Both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) are more sensitive than radiography – the standard imaging technique – for detecting bone erosions in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to research published in the open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy. The early detection of bone erosions is crucial for identifying those people most at risk from RA.

A chronic autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by persistent inflammation of the synovial membrane and progressive joint destruction. Beyond loss of mobility, sufferers face a high risk of heart failure.

Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is more predominant in women, the reasons for this are unclear. Many studies have examined the effects of estrogen on the risk and severity of RA, but the results are conflicting and controversial.

New Analysis by Applied Data Research Examines Clinical Developments and Assesses Market Impact

Doctors are encouraged by the results of a new study using a medication called Rituxan to help patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

A joint study on “The Burden of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Patient Access to Treatments” by authors from the Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden), the University of Lund (Sweden) and the Medical University of Vienna (Austria) has shown that the highest cost in rheumatoid arthritis results from patients having to leave the workforce early due to the disease.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most common chronic inflammatory arthritis, are twice as likely as other individuals to experience depression. Although depression in primary care has been well studied, no studies have examined whether rheumatologists and RA patients discuss depression during medical visits.

People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an inflammatory autoimmune disease, tend to die younger and, largely from cardiovascular disease (CVD). One explanation for this increasingly recognized fact is that inflammation promotes atherosclerosis. A marker of inflammation, elevation of the C-reactive protein (CRP) level has been shown to predict CVD in the general population.