BOSTON – Rheumatoid arthritis has been linked to increased risk for death in one of the first studies to directly compare RA patients with controls over a prolonged period of time. In women who developed RA after enrollment in the Nurses’ Health Study, seropositive disease was strongly associated with worse outcomes. Also, some surprising findings emerged about RA and the risk for fatal respiratory disease in women.
In our exclusive interview, one of the study’s lead authors, Dr. Jeffrey A. Sparks of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, discusses how the findings may begin to influence the clinical management of women with RA.