Arthritis pushes up risk of lung disease

SUFFERERS of rheumatoid arthritis are at greater risk of deadly lung diseases, warns the latest research.

It suggests that the 400,000 Britons with the condition are almost 50 per cent more likely to need hospital care for wheezing and breathlessness.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term illness where the immune system causes the body to attack itself, causing painful, swollen and stiff joints.

The extra problems come from the inflammation it causes in the joints, which is thought to lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

This has now been added to heart disease and diabetes as problems linked to the arthritis.

COPD is an umbrella term for diseases ranging from emphysema to acute bronchitis which can cause wheezing and breathlessness so bad that daily activities become impossible.

However women are at greater risk, warns the study of almost 25,000 patients monitored over a decade during the study at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers overall have a 47 per cent greater risk of the lung condition but women with the condition see the threat rise by 61 per cent.

Lead author Dr Diane Lacaille said: ‘These findings are novel because it has only recently been recognised that inflammation plays a role in the development of COPD.

‘Clinicians treating people with rheumatoid arthritis are not aware that their patients are at increased risk of COPD.’

Olivia Belle, director of external affairs at Arthritis Research UK, said: ‘As this research shows, rheumatoid arthritis doesn’t just affect joints, but can cause lung disease too.

‘This research emphasises the importance of getting the inflammation under control as soon as possible.’

The study suggests those with arthritis should be vigilant in looking for the first signs of COPD, which is the second most common lung disease after asthma in Britain.

Early symptoms, suffered by around 1.2 million people, include frequent chest infections and chesty coughs, plus waking up in the night feeling breathless.

The researchers followed 24,625 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 25,396 people free of the condition to record how many were taken to hospital with COPD.

Smoking increases the risk of both arthritis and lung disease but the results were adjusted to take account of this, it was reported in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

It was once thought COPD was caused by inflammation in the lungs specifically but experts now think inflammation elsewhere in the body could also be a trigger.

They advised giving anti-inflammatory drugs to people with arthritis as quickly as possible.

Dr Lacaille added: ‘Our results emphasise the need to control inflammation and, in fact, to aim for complete eradication of inflammation through effective treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.’

The condition is different to and less common than osteoarthritis. This affects some 8 million people in the UK and involves a breakdown of joint cartilage, often due to wear and tear.

‘Complete eradication of inflammation’