DMARDs Lower Dementia Risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis

By Jack Cush, MD | 13 February 2018

UK researchers have analyzed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from the UK Clinical Practice Research Database and shown that chronic conventional DMARD (cDMARD) use was associated with 40% lower risk of dementia (nearly 50% with methotrexate use).

They compared 3876 cDMARD users to 1938 nonusers among incident RA and found a reduced risk of dementia (hazard ratio: 0.60; 95% confidence interval: 0.42-0.85). The effect was strongest in methotrexate users (hazard ratio: 0.52; 95% confidence interval; 0.34-0.82).

These results suggest a new potential therapeutic role for DMARDs and the possible contribution of inflammation on dementia.

Disclosures:

The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose related to this subject

Add new comment

If you are a health practitioner, you may Login/Register to comment.

More Like This

Early Exposure to Passive Smoke May Up Risk for RA Later in Life

By MedPage Today | 16 Aug 2018

Exposure to second-hand smoke during childhood was associated with an increased risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) later in life, researchers said.

[...]

Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors Do Not Increase the Risk of Cancer Recurrence

By Jack Cush, MD | 15 Aug 2018

There is a large body of data that shows tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) use in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) confers the same risk as that seen in RA - meaning there is no increase over and above that incurred by inflammation and RA itself. There are fewer studies about whether it is safe to use a TNFi in someone with a pre-existing history of cancer.

[...]

Cardiovascular Benefits of Maintaining Biologic Therapy

By Jack Cush, MD | 13 Aug 2018

An Australian prospective study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) has shown that sustained use of tumour necrosis factor (TNFi) inhibitors or biologics can reduce the risks of cardiovascular events (CVEs).

[...]

Maternal RA Increases Offspring Risk of Autoimmune Disorders

By Jack Cush, MD | 02 Aug 2018

A Danish population study suggests that fetal exposure to maternal rheumatoid arthritis results in an increased offspring risk of thyroid disease, epilepsy and RA, compared to children born to mothers without RA.

[...]

The Fate of Palindromic Rheumatism

By Jack Cush, MD | 27 Jul 2018

Palindromic rheumatism (PR) is an intermittent inflammatory arthropathy with episodes of arthritis and/or periarticular inflammation that wax and wane over time. It is thought that up to one-third of such patients may go on to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

[...]

Search form

You are here