Rheumatoid Arthritis Increases Deadly Blood Clot Risk

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a form of inflammatory disease and an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the nontrivial membrane, hence, damages the cartilage and bone at joint. According to new research from Taiwan, rheumatoid arthritis also increases the risk of developing potentially fatal blood clots in the legs (deep vein thrombosis) and lungs (pulmonary thromboembolism).

There are three primary reasons for this joint disease to cause blood clots. The first one is that by damaging the joint, RA limits the muscular movement which helps push the blood flow in the circulatory system. The second reason is the inflammatory proteins that circulate in the blood of RA patients not only damage the joint but also potentially damage blood vessels. The last reason is that higher levels of C-reactive protein in RA patient contribute to increase the blood’s viscosity (resistance to flow).

I wanted to read this article because I just did my student lecture presentation about rheumatoid arthritis and figured out that there are still a lot of mysteries about this disease. Also, this article enhances the idea that our body's parts are strictly connective to one another. If you get problems in one part, it can also affects other parts of body, just like rheumatoid arthritis is a joint disease but it can potentially cause blood clots in legs and lungs. 

http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/health-a-healing/rheumatoid-arthritis-increases-deadly-blood-clot-risk