The increasing stress and unhealthy eating habits are responsible for the heightened risk for developing lifestyle diseases. A survey of the Hyderabadi population indicates a correlation between Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and increased risk for Cardio-Vascular Diseases (CVD) especially among women.
The survey conducted between 2007 and 2011 monitored the correlation between the RA and CVD among 800 subjects including control groups. Conducted by Dr Firdaus Fatima, honorary lecturer in Rheumatology at University of Liverpool, UK and Professor Robert J Moots, head of the department of infection and immunity at the university who are associated with the AB Rheumatology Centre at Basheerbagh Hyderabad, the study indicates that RA patients are at a four-fold risk of developing CVD. The survey studied 800 RA patients, comparing the prevalance of CVD risk factors amon the patients with an equal number of healthy individuals. A 10 year probable risk of developing CVD was calculated in the patients and control group.
“The percentage of people suffering from RA is two times higher in India and World Health Organization has said that it will be the country with the highest number of people affected with CVD by 2020. RA paired with high blood pressure, diabetes and hypertension can cause CVD,” said Dr Firdaus Fatima. “The survey was conducted in Hyderabad and the patients for the survey were from a tertiary care center compared with a survey done in general population. We chose Hyderabad as it has a grievous diabetes ratio which when paired with RA is fatal. A clear corelation has come out of this survey. We can not say exactly why there is a high risk of CVD in women but we think it might be mostly due to hormones and the risk of this disease is mostly post-pregnancy,” she added.