Specifically, the study found that the pain of RA rises
as seasonal temperatures fall.
"Physicians can easily dismiss seasonal changes as having
an impact on patients with rheumatoid arthritis yet, in
reality, the differences in weather and climate are having
an impact," researcher Dr. Noriko Iikuni, of the Institute
of Rheumatology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, said
in a prepared statement.
Her team reviewed data collected from more than 1,800
RA patients between October 2001 and April 2004. The volunteers
averaged nearly 58 years in age and had suffered from
RA for an average of over 10 years.
The study looked at the patients' disease activity, score,
tender joint count, swollen joint count, health assessment
questions, pain scale, laboratory test results that indicated
amount of pain and inflammation, and response to treatment.
Both subjective and objective results indicated that
the RA patients experienced a significant decrease in
RA activity from spring to fall, and an equally marked
increase from fall to spring.
"For the majority of rheumatoid arthritis sufferers,
the period between fall to spring will give rise to more
problems whereas symptoms will ease between the spring
and fall. Awareness of this very real influence on these
patients should play a role in more effective treatment
management," Iikuni said.
The findings were to be presented Monday at the annual
scientific meeting of the American College of Rheumatology,
in San Diego.
- More articles
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Reference
Source 101
November
14, 2005
