Health Discoveries in General Health News
Level of disease activity most important in RA disability
August 20, 2010
The level of disease activity in people who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) strongly affects the level of disability that they experience, according to a study in JCR: Journal of Clinical Rheumatology.
The study by Dr. E.E. Schneeberger of Instituto de Rehabilitación Psicofísica in Buenos Aires also found that disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to reduce disease activity is the only factor that lessens RA disability.
The DAS 28 score, a standardized questionnaire, assessed disease activity based on the number of tender, swollen joints; a laboratory test of inflammation; and the patient's general health in 640 RA patients. Patients with a higher overall level of disease activity had greater disability, as did those with more morning stiffness and patients who had the disease for a longer time.
Although bone damage contributes to disability, the study found it wasn't as important a contributor to disability as was the disease activity. Treatment with DMARDs to control disease activity might help to lessen the disability caused by RA, the researchers concluded.
Last year, researchers from the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, as part of the North American Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium (NARAC), identified a gene called REL as a risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis. The institute is the research arm of the North Shore-LIJ Health System.
The study by Dr. E.E. Schneeberger of Instituto de Rehabilitación Psicofísica in Buenos Aires also found that disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to reduce disease activity is the only factor that lessens RA disability.
The DAS 28 score, a standardized questionnaire, assessed disease activity based on the number of tender, swollen joints; a laboratory test of inflammation; and the patient's general health in 640 RA patients. Patients with a higher overall level of disease activity had greater disability, as did those with more morning stiffness and patients who had the disease for a longer time.
Although bone damage contributes to disability, the study found it wasn't as important a contributor to disability as was the disease activity. Treatment with DMARDs to control disease activity might help to lessen the disability caused by RA, the researchers concluded.
Last year, researchers from the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, as part of the North American Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium (NARAC), identified a gene called REL as a risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis. The institute is the research arm of the North Shore-LIJ Health System.