Ask Dr Miriam

My mum has rheumatoid arthritis and I’ve heard that this means she’ll be at increased risk of heart attacks. Is this true?

Yes, I’m afraid it is. People with rheumatoid arthritis have nearly a 50% increased risk of heart attack compared to people without RA. But both you and your mother can take action to deal with this increased risk though.

In the first place you should encourage your mum to see her doctor for an assessment of her heart risk and take steps to help to lower it.

One key step is to stop smoking if she does because this raises the risk of both RA flare-ups and heart disease, so stopping smoking is absolutely critical. Other conditions your mum may have which affect the heart, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, should also be treated quite aggressively to bring down her risk.

In addition she should ask for rigorous treatment of her RA because research indicates that can mitigate heart risk, probably by lowering the inflammation in her body. Perhaps you should go with her to the doctor.