Skip to main content

Women With Autoimmune Disease At Greater Risk For Heart-Related Death

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on May 9, 2025.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 9, 2025 — Women with common autoimmune inflammatory diseases are more likely than men to die from heart disease, a new study says.

Women with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or systemic sclerosis have a 50% higher heart disease-related death rate than men, researchers reported May 5 in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

“Our study highlights the significant burden of cardiovascular disease in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, which disproportionately affect women,” said senior researcher Dr. Heba Wassif, director of cardio-rheumatology at the Cleveland Clinic.

“It is critical to screen for and address cardiovascular risk factors early, at the time of diagnosis and periodically thereafter,” she said in a news release.

Women are two to three times more likely than men to develop rheumatoid arthritis, and about nine times more likely to develop lupus, researchers said in background notes.

Systemic sclerosis also is more common among women than men, researchers said. That autoimmune disease involves the tightening and hardening of skin, potentially affecting the digestive tract, blood vessels and internal organs.

For the study, researchers analyzed data for more than 127,000 heart disease-related deaths among more than 281,000 deaths associated with the three common autoimmune diseases between 1999 and 2020.

Overall, heart disease deaths declined for people with these autoimmune disorders, from 3.9 to 2.1 per 100,000 in women and from 1.7 to 1.2 per 100,000 in men between 1999 and 2020, results show.

However, the death rate remains higher among women compared to men, despite the overall reduction in deaths.

Stroke and clogged arteries were the main causes of heart-related death in autoimmune patients, and women died from both at higher rates than men.

Women also were more than twice as likely to die from irregular heart rhythms or cardiac arrest, researchers found.

People with rheumatoid arthritis had the highest heart-related death rate, results show.

“There is a common perception that people with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases primarily die from infections or kidney disease,” lead study author Dr. Issam Motairek, an internal medicine resident at Cleveland Clinic, said in a news release.

“However, our study revealed that one-third of deaths in this population were due to cardiovascular disease, highlighting the significant burden of heart disease in these patients,” he added.

“This study reinforces the need to investigate drivers of these disparities between women and men and how to improve treatment for patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases,” Motairek concluded.

Sources

  • American Heart Association, news release, May 6, 2025

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.

Read this next

Dr. Robert Jarvik, Inventor of First Human Artificial Heart, Dies at 79

FRIDAY, May 30, 2025 — Dr. Robert Jarvik, the man behind the world’s first permanent artificial heart used in a human, has died.  He was 79, The New York Times...

Military Service Might Protect Against Depression

FRIDAY, May 30, 2025 — The mentally scarred, deeply depressed combat veteran is an indelible stereotype promoted by movies and TV. The post-traumatic stress and despair...

Wildfire Smoke Threatens Heart, Lung Health For Months Afterward

FRIDAY, May 30, 2025 — Skies choked with wildfire smoke can affect people’s heart and lung health for up to three months afterwards, a new study says. The particle...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.