Tuesday, February 13 |Arthritis Foundation

Daily Tasks Get Harder for Women with RA After Menopause

Women withrheumatoid arthritis (RA)report a decline in physical function after menopause, possibly due to shifting hormone levels, according to a recent study in the journalRheumatology.

The researchers, led by Elizabeth Mollard, PhD, an assistant professor and advanced nurse practitioner at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Lincoln, undertook the study because there are known associations between RA and female hormones, but the connections are poorly understood. For example, RA often goes into remission duringpregnancybut flares after delivery. First-timesymptoms of RAappear more frequently after pregnancy, too. And for reasons that may or may not be hormone-related, women get RA at three times the rate that men do and they tend to have more pain and disability than their male counterparts.

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Monday, February 5 |Arthritis Foundation

Rheumatoid Arthritis Research Briefs: RA Tests, Dementia, Disability

Keep up-to-date on the latestrheumatoid arthritis (RA)研究与我们的简要研究总结。

Obesity May Affect RA Tests

Research has shown thatobesity can increase the risk of RAor worsen symptoms. A new study of more than 2,000 people with RA suggests it could also affect the results of tests used to measure RA inflammation.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found a link between body mass index (BMI, a measure of body fat) and elevated results of two common tests – SED rate and C-reactive protein (CRP) – used in diagnosing RA and gauging its activity. Researchers say this association is related to fat mass and not RA disease activity. Doctors should consider a patient’s BMI when interpreting lab results.

Source: Arthritis Care & Research, published online April, 2017

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Wednesday, January 17 |Arthritis Foundation

Children of Mothers With RA at Greater Risk of Certain Health Problems

Children born to mothers withrheumatoid arthritis (RA)appear to have an increased risk of RA and two other chronic health problems, according to a study published online recently inArthritis Care & Research, although the number of children affected is still small. The findings are based on data for all children born in Denmark over a nearly 25-year period.

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Thursday, December 28 |Arthritis Foundation

You Said It: Avoiding the Flu with RA or PsA

If you have an autoimmune disease, likerheumatoid arthritis (RA),psoriatic arthritis (PsA), orlupus, or you take immunosuppressing drugs, you have to be extra-careful to avoid contagious diseases. We asked our readers and followers “What steps do you take to avoid getting sick during flu and cold season?” Here are their answers.

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Wednesday, November 15 |Arthritis Foundation

Research Identifies Which RA Patients May Successfully Reduce Their Biologics

A new study presented recently at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology identifies four factors that may predict whichrheumatoid arthritis (RA)patients might successfully taper the dose of their biologic medication.

Althoughbiologicsare highly effective in controlling RA and its symptoms, patients in some cases prefer not to use them.Past studieshave shown that it is possible to taper and even stop the medication in certain patients who are in remission once they have been successfully treated with one of these drugs.

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Thursday, November 9 |Arthritis Foundation

Type 2 Diabetes Risk May Be Higher With RA

People who haverheumatoid arthritis (RA)are known to be more likely to develop other serious health problems, includingheart disease,lung diseaseand some types of cancer. Now a recent study in the online journalPLOS Oneappears to indicate they also have a higher risk of developingtype 2 diabetes.

Lead study author Piero Ruscitti, MD, of the University of L’Aquila in Italy, writes that he and his colleagues undertook the study to show that type 2 diabetes is common but often overlooked in RA patients.

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Thursday, October 26 |Arthritis Foundation

You Said It: The Most Unexpected Side Effects of RA

We asked our readers and followers this question: “What was the most unexpected side effect of yourrheumatoid arthritisorRA treatment?” Here are their answers.

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Tuesday, October 10 |Arthritis Foundation

RA & Vaccinations

Keeping up with your vaccinations is always a smart move, but getting immunized is especially important when you have an autoimmune disease likerheumatoid arthritis (RA). Both RA and themedicines you take to treat itcan increase your risk for infections.

当琼·威尔金森的风湿性关节炎爆发时，她的风湿病医生坚持让她和她的丈夫接种肺炎和带状疱疹疫苗，以保护她免受这些常见感染。“他说，‘你今天离开这里后，直接去找药剂师，’”她回忆说。

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Friday, September 29 |Arthritis Foundation

Rheumatoid Arthritis Raises Shingles Risk

People withrheumatoid arthritis (RA)have roughly twice the risk of healthy older adults of developing shingles, a virus related to chickenpox that causes pain and a blistering rash.

Most adults have been exposed to varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox. This virus is never completely cleared from our bodies, but lies quietly in spinal nerve cells. If it’s reactivated it causes shingles, explains rheumatologist Jeffrey Curtis, MD, professor medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The reactivated virus is called herpes zoster or shingles.

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Tuesday, August 15 |Arthritis Foundation

Aggressive RA Treatment May Prevent Joint Deformities

Thanks to earlier diagnosis and more effective treatments, joint deformities in people withrheumatoid arthritis (RA)are becoming less frequent and severe.

是什么导致风湿性关节炎的关节畸形?

In a joint affected by RA, inflammatory cells of the immune system gather in the lining of the joint (called synovium), forming a fibrous layer of abnormal tissue (called pannus). The pannus releases substances that quicken bone erosion, cartilage destruction and damage to the surrounding ligaments. The involved joints lose their shape and alignment, resulting in deformities. Severe deformities lead to loss of joint function and the need for joint replacement surgery.

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