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    Arthritis Res Ther. 2008;10(2):105. Epub 2008 Mar 7.

    Rheumatologists, take heart! We may be doing something right.

    van Vollenhoven RF.

    Comment on:

    In the present issue of Arthritis Research & Therapy data are presented suggesting that antirheumatic therapies decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The QUEST-RA group, a large international collaboration, analyzed data on 4,363 patients in a cross-sectional manner. Traditional risk factors were all significantly associated with cardiovascular events, and the presence of extraarticular disease significantly increased the risk, confirming a previous publication. The most interesting analysis in this study suggests that effective antirheumatic treatment, with traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), glucocorticoids, or anti-TNF biologics, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in rheumatoid arthritis. Some methodological issues are discussed, however, and confirmatory studies are suggested.

    PMID: 18341711 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

    PMCID: PMC2453770

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