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“The CVD of RA does not occur for the same reasons (high blood pressure, tobacco, high cholesterol, stress, excessive alcohol, and obesity) as in non-RA patients and it’s not as easily detected.”
That’s interesting! I’m a bit concerned though as I already have some factors that contribute to CVD outside of RA. So I guess it’s just another good reason to keep an eye on keeping my heart healthy.
Thanks for sharing, Kelly!
That first item seemed like the RA was just kind of thrown in. Perfectly healthy people die of virulant bacteria too. I was a little confused on the last sentence. Did taking the steroids put her in the wheelchair or was she in a wheelchair because of her RA?
Intersting article on the CVD.
As for disk problems and pain, in my younger days I had a herniated disk due to a mechanical injury. And that pain was definetly due to the bulging disk pressing on the nerve. They cut away the bulge and the pain was gone instantly. With denegerative disk issues and mild bulging, inflammation might play a role in the pain, but if the disk bulges too much then that pain is definetly due to pressure on the nerve. OUCH!
When I read it, I though it was saying that the steroids were the reason her immune system was compromised / weakened which lead to the vulnerability to the infection. These are short summarizies w/out much commentary meant to introduce the news stories that are linked to.
CVD: a doctor I know sent me this this week: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/727794?src=mp&spon=27&uac=15348AY I think he was Tweeting/ blogging about CVD of RA also.
Yes, ouch. I have some bulging discs myself. Saw the spine pain man today. Well, I saw the top of his head. This guy never looks up. My spine has OA, RA, bone spurs, and DDD. It is hard to untangle all of the symptoms. But back to the post: The newest theory on FMS is based upon altered pain thresholds and nociception as a result of “polypain” which is shown to have it’s source in widespread OA in combination with ddd. If it’s interesting to you, I recommend the book. It’s linked on the new FMS post.
Kelly, great blog. I think researchers have only scratched the surface of what autoantibodies are present in RA. (and other autoimmune diseases). It would explain why there often isn’t a straight forward positive diagnostic lab for every RA’er, and why not everyone responds to the same RA meds.,esp biologics. The cMRI is interesting. I had a cardiac CT angiogram so I will be looking up the link to see how this differs in the info gained , in each procedure.
Wow! Fascinating articles. I look forward to having time to read the articles you linked to! Thanks for putting it all together in one handy package!
Thanks. 😀
Regarding the last item, IL-17 is not just involved in degenerative disc disease which many of us do have. It is also involved in the synovium in RA joints as the following abstract shows.
“Our data demonstrate a link between the presence of pro-inflammatory Th17 cells in SF [synovial fluid] and local PDUS [power doppler ultrasound] scores, and offer a novel immunological explanation for the observation that rapid joint damage progression occurs in patients with persistent positive PDUS signal.”
PLoS One. 2010 Sep 1;5(9). pii: e12516.
Linking power Doppler ultrasound to the presence of th17 cells in the rheumatoid arthritis joint
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20824142
I kept trying to tell my rheumy that I felt there was an inflammatory component to my low back pain. I said this because raising my mtx dose and prednisone doses, or lowering them seems to make a difference in the episodes of low back pain. And it just “feels” inflammatory. I don’t know how much either of these meds has an effect on IL-17, but feel there must be some effect. Hopefully the research to treat low back pain via IL-17 will also bring some relief to autoimmune arthritis sufferers.
Also see this abstract re: Th17 and IL17:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19132915
I had been thinking for some time about the degenerative disc disease aspect and whether it might possibly be RA related. My first spontaneous rupture was in 2002 and my second in Nov 2009. I was especially interested in the artcle I sent to you. I’m so glad that you had chance to read it and include it in your blog.
I don’t know why I still get amazed that so many Rheummys are not ‘up’ with the latest research etc. I mean I shouldn’t be, given not just my own experience – but of so many others both here and on your FB page.
I learn something new every day from you Kelly and the other warriors.
I just pray along with you all that the proverbial ‘they’ make faster advances in finding a cure.
Thanks again, Kathryn. There may be more than one type / cause of ddd, but I sure do meet a lot of RA patients who have it.
This is so interesting – I have the same low back problems. Love the research.