According to researchers at Semmelweis University, not only inflammation, but also sleep disorders, depression, obesity, and smoking may sustain persistent rheumatic symptoms. In their publications in the journals Nature Reviews Rheumatology and The Lancet Rheumatology, they also proposed a model that can help identify and treat the true causes of symptoms in time.
Researchers at Semmelweis University analyzed how depression, smoking, obesity, sleep disorders, and other health problems are linked to difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the joints, causing pain, swelling, and stiffness. It affects tens of thousands of people in Hungary only. Most patients respond well to treatment, but 6–28 percent belong to the so-called “difficult-to-treat” group because they do not achieve lasting remission despite therapy.
According to the publications in Nature Reviews Rheumatology and The Lancet Rheumatology, these factors may not only coexist with the disease but may also help maintain it.
For example, pain and depression may reduce physical activity, increase body weight, worsen sleep and mood – all of which can feed back into pain and everyday functioning, creating a difficult-to-break “vicious cycle.”
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