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An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Respiratory-Related Mortality Higher in Men with RA

Catherine Kolonko  |  Issue: March 2016  |  

“Our study revealed that respiratory-related deaths were the most over-represented cause of death in our RA cohort,” Dr. England said. “As a result, we should apply the same focus to identifying, treating and preventing respiratory disease as we did to cardiovascular disease.

“For researchers, this requires developing better methods, such as biomarkers, for the identification of RA-associated respiratory disease early in the disease course. For clinicians, this demands aggressive management of patients’ respiratory conditions, often in collaboration with a pulmonologist, and most importantly encouraging and assisting with smoking cessation efforts in those who are tobacco users.”

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Catherine Kolonko is a medical writer based in Oregon.

References

  1. England BR, Sayles H, Michaud K, et al. Cause-specific mortality in male US veterans with rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2016 Jan;68(1):36–45.

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