Rheumatoid arthritis

Women with active rheumatoid arthritis who receive pregnancy counseling are as likely to breastfeed their children as women in the general population, indicate findings from the Preconceptional Counselling in Active Rheumatoid Arthritis study.

Frailty is common and associated with adverse outcomes in people with rheumatoid arthritis, but may be at least partially reversible in those with early disease, researchers report.

A nurse-led education intervention may improve safety competency among people initiating biologics for spondyloarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, French study findings indicate.

Findings from the VITAL trial suggest that vitamin D supplementation, with or without omega-3 fatty acids, may warrant further investigation as a strategy to reduce the risk for autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and polymyalgia rheumatica.

Adhering to a healthy lifestyle, namely never smoking, moderate alcohol use, regular exercise, healthy BMI, and healthy diet, is associated with a significantly reduced risk for rheumatoid arthritis in women, show data from the Nurses’ Health Studies.

People in the UK with rheumatoid arthritis did less physical activity than those without during the first COVID-19 lockdown, researchers report.

Higher educational attainment, as a marker of socioeconomic position, is associated with a lower risk for rheumatoid arthritis, but this protective effect can be moderated by smoking and BMI, suggests an analysis of genetic data.

Cigarette smoking among people with early rheumatoid arthritis significantly reduces the clinical benefit of methotrexate – in a dose-dependent manner – regardless of whether concomitant prednisone is used, researchers report.

Urinary sodium-to-potassium ratio is independently and positively associated with disease activity and hypertension in people with rheumatoid arthritis, Japanese study findings indicate.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis have an increased risk for death that can be attributed in part to low cardiorespiratory fitness, researchers report.

A significant proportion of patients with rheumatoid arthritis are not doing any physical activity when starting methotrexate treatment or stop soon after, researchers report.