StemCell Therapy

It affects more than 690,000 people in the UK, of which over 500,000 are women and around three-quarters are of working age.

People with rheumatoid arthritis experience a range of symptoms, including pain and swelling in the joints, tiredness and depression which can affect their daily lives.

The condition cannot be cured but can be treated.

Experts have revealed patients who smoke or are overweight however see fewer improvements in their symptoms.

A study by American and Canadian researchers found smoking and being overweight is more difficult for patients with rheumatoid arthritis to achieve optimal control of inflammation and symptoms.

Researchers from collected data on more than 1,100 patients.

"Early, aggressive treatment to achieve remission is the primary goal of therapy and can be best achieved early on when treating patients with newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis, as early disease control is associated with improved long-term outcomes," said Vivian Bykerk, senior investigator and director of the Inflammatory Arthritis Centre of Excellence at Hospital for Special Surgery.

"We have previously shown that individuals with excess weight are less likely to achieve sustained remission in the first three years after diagnosis.

Here we explore the impact of smoking and being overweight or obese on the ability to achieve good control of symptoms and inflammation in men and women with rheumatoid arthritis."

Researchers at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York analysed more than 1,109 patients who were being treated with methotrexate and other arthritis drugs.

The majority of patients were female, but among the women, 31 per cent were overweight, 32 per cent were obese and 15 per cent smoked. Among the males, 44 per cent were overweight and 35 per cent were obese and 22 per cent currently smoked.

Experts found less symptom improvement was also seen in patients who were overnight or obese compared with those of a healthy weight.

Current smokers also saw less symptom relief compared to nonsmoker over time.

The finding revealed the most dramatic differences in patients were seen in those who were overweight, or obese and smoked.

These patients had considerably worse outcomes over time compared to nonsmoking patients with a healthy weight.

"These results contribute to growing evidence of how lifestyle impacts how well patients may respond to treatment and the potential value of referring them to proven community-based smoking cessation and weight management programs," said Dr Bykerk.

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Read the rest here:
Rheumatoid arthritis - symptoms will not improve if patients do THIS - Express.co.uk

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