Asthma and COPD linked to higher rheumatoid arthritis risk

Inflamed airways are hypothesized to contribute to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis due to RA‐related autoantibody production, and smoking is the strongest environmental RA risk factor. However, the role of chronic airway diseases in RA development is unclear.

The researchers investigated whether asthma or COPD were associated with RA. They found that Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were each associated with increased risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis. The study has been published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Inflamed airways may contribute to the development of rheumatod arthritis, but the role of chronic airway diseases in the development of rheumatoid arthritis is unclear. In this study of 205,153 women, the researchers identified 15,148 women with asthma and 3,573 with COPD as well as 1,060 women who later developed rheumatoid arthritis over a median follow-up of approximately 24 years.

Asthma was associated with a 53% higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis, and COPD was associated with an 89% higher risk, after adjusting for factors including smoking. The association was particularly strong between COPD and the seropositive form of rheumatoid arthritis, which is characterized by elevated blood levels of antibodies thought to cause arthritis-related symptoms.