Cognitive Impairment More Often Experienced by Patients With RA
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, July 31, 2024 -- Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with moderate-to-high inflammation are more likely to experience cognitive impairment, according to a study published online July 29 in RMD Open.
Natalia Mena-Vázquez, Ph.D., from the Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga and Platform in Nanomedicine in Spain, and colleagues performed a cross-sectional study involving a cohort of patients with RA initiating their first biological treatment due to moderate-to-high inflammation and an age-, sex-, and education level-matched healthy control group (70 patients and 70 controls). Participants underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment; cognitive impairment was defined as a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score <26.
The researchers found that patients with RA more often experienced cognitive impairment (60 versus 40 percent) and had lower mean values in the MoCA (23.6 versus 25.1). In terms of MoCA subtests, involvement was more marked in patients than controls in the visuospatial-executive, memory, and abstraction domains. Lower scores on executive function, which was measured by the backward digit span test, were also seen for patients (4.0 versus 4.7). In the general population, cognitive impairment was associated with age and lower education level, while among patients, associations were seen with education level, obesity, and average inflammatory activity.
"Our results underline the importance of earlier and more stringent control of the activity of arthritis and the need for new therapeutic strategies aimed at associated factors with the aim of mitigating the risk of cognitive impairment in patients with RA," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted July 2024
Read this next
Residual Inflammation Seen in One-Third of Patients With Psoriasis on Biologics
WEDNESDAY, May 21, 2025 -- For patients with psoriasis receiving biologic therapy, residual inflammation (RI), defined as increased inflammatory markers in blood, characterized by...
Exposure to Certain HIV Drugs May Significantly Lower Risk for Alzheimer Disease
TUESDAY, May 20, 2025 -- Exposure to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), which treat HIV and hepatitis B and inhibit inflammasome activation, is associated with a...
CVD Mortality Higher in Women Than Men With Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases
TUESDAY, May 13, 2025 -- For patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID), cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality decreased from 1999 to 2020, but sex disparities...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.