Watch Out for Stroke Risk in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

VBCR - December 2015, Volume 4, No 6 - In the Literature

As the leading cause of increased mortality in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), cardiovascular disease needs to be taken very seriously, according to the authors of a new review in Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports. However, only a small percentage of patients are given adequate stroke prevention, they state.

The experts, led by Réza Behrouz, DO, Associate Professor of Neurology, The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, Medical Arts and Research Center, recommend several management approaches for people who have RA. These include: use of disease modification therapy and mitigation of risk factors; use of methotrexate to reduce the risk of stroke; use of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to reduce dyslipidemia and other factors associated with atherosclerotic disease; and not using anticoagulants.

They also emphasized the importance of early identification of cardiovascular risk and other areas of significant potential morbidity such as cervical spine instability and systemic hypercoagulability. Furthermore, the team flagged the fallibility of current risk calculators. Zha A, et al. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2015;15:77.

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