SAN DIEGO, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Fewer rheumatoid-arthritis patients are taking daily doses of aspirin, despite their higher risk of heart attack, says a new study.
The study, presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego, found that 18.4 percent of patients surveyed who had rheumatoid arthritis said they were taking low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attack, compared to 25.1 percent of those with non-inflammatory rheumatic disorders, although those in the former group have a 1.7 times higher cardiac risk.
"It may be that rheumatologists, in tune with the cardiovascular risk rheumatoid arthritis poses, are assuming preventative issues are being addressed by the primary physician, whereas primary physicians may not be aware that those with rheumatoid arthritis are under additional cardiac risk that may warrant aspirin use," said Lee Colglazier, a rheumatologist based in Crestview Hills, Ky., who was a fellow at Wake Forest School of Medicine when the study was conducted.
Colglazier added that the slump in aspirin use among high-risk patients might also be explained by physicians' hesitation to recommend low-dose aspirin for patients already on complicated therapies, or that the patients themselves are heeding warnings about concomitant use of aspirin and other medications.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases have a higher cardiac risk because inflammation accelerates cholesterol plaque formation, experts believe.
The study surveyed 18,123 patients, 14,114 of whom had rheumatoid arthritis, and 4,009 of whom had other non-inflammatory rheumatic disorders.
