Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions

Smoking and Higher Disease Activity in RA

Publish date:: April 22, 2019

Smoking is associated with higher levels of disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a new study found. Researchers examined the association between smoking and RA in 282 individuals with RA diagnosis, in a public hospital, between 2013 and 2017. Current smoking status and disease activity were assessed at each visit; covariates included sex, race/ethnicity, age, obesity, and medication use. Among the findings:

Smoking was associated with an increase of 0.64 units in the patient global score compared to nonsmoking and with 2.58 more swollen joints.
Smoking was associated with a higher clinical disease activity score; however, the difference was not statistically significant.
No association was found between smoking and tender joint count.

Citation:

Gianfrancesco MA, Trupin L, Shiboski S, et al. Smoking is associated with higher disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: A longitudinal study controlling for time-varying covariates. J Rheumatol. 2019;46(4):370-375. doi:10.3899/jrheum.180262.

This Week's Must Reads

Osteoporosis prevalence in PsA similar to general population,

Swedish registry study finds atopic dermatitis significantly associated with autoimmune diseases,

Weight loss may be paramount lifestyle change in preventing gout,

Gut microbiome influences response to methotrexate in new-onset RA patients,

Early treatment of RA with DMARDs promotes sustained remission,

Must Reads in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Gut microbiome influences response to methotrexate in new-onset RA patients,

Early treatment of RA with DMARDs promotes sustained remission,

Tocilizumab, methotrexate combo equals tocilizumab alone for preventing progression,

Biomarker-based prognostic score identifies cardiovascular risk in RA,

Early life exposure to famine raises risk of RA in adulthood,