I apologize for side tracking your topic Atish.
"Well, I don't think ADHD, RA, as painful and problematic as they can be...are not life threatening in most cases."
Seriously Diabetic Dad? I figure any premature deaths are too many. My Aunt and my Dad both died due to complications of RA.
Rheumatoid arthritis is not solely a disease of joint destruction. It can involve almost all organs. A life threatening joint complication can occur when the cervical spine becomes unstable as a result of rheumatoid arthritis. It can cause eye complications so patients should have regular eye exams.
Rheumatoid vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels) is a serious, potentially life threatening complication of rheumatoid arthritis. It can lead to skin ulcerations an infections, bleeding stomach ulcers, and nerve problems that cause pain, numbness, or tingling. Vasculitis may also affect the brain, nerves, the heart. It can cause a stroke, heart attack or heart failure.
Rheumatoid arthritis can cause the outer linning of the heart to swell (pericarditis) and cause heart complications. Inflammation of the heart muscle, called myocarditis can also develop. Pericarditis and myocarditis can lead to congestive heart failure.
http://www.drugs.com/rheumatoid-arthritis.html
“Excess mortality” is consistently associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Some research shows that the mortality risk for RA-ers is about 38% greater than for the general population. It was even worse for women who have a 55% increased risk compared to women without Rheumatoid Arthritis. And no miracles of modern medicine have changed that.
http://rawarrior.com/mortality-and-rheumatoid-arthritis/
I have enjoyed this Lady for many years, reading her informative blogs, her ongoing research and her wonderful attitude. I appreciate her sharing her life with us.
Results: Females were significantly over‐represented among RA patients who committed suicide (52.6% RA women vs 17.3% women with neither RA nor OA). Comorbid depressive disorders preceded suicides in 90% of the female RA patients. Before their suicide, 50% of the female RA patients (vs11% of the male RA patients) had experienced at least one suicide attempt. The method of suicide was violent in 90% of the RA females. RA males were less often depressive, but committed suicide after experiencing shorter periods of RA and fewer admissions than females.
http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/content/42/2/287.full
Another area highlighted in the study published in this month's issue relates to the inadequate recording of RA as a contributory or causative factor on death certificates. In spite of a very high retrieval rate of certification, the presence of RA was recorded only in 18% of all deaths occurring in patients with the disease. This observation has been reported for 20 yrs [16], and the lack of progress over this time highlights the need for all primary and secondary care physicians to recognize the systemic and potentially severe nature of the disorder. Similar issues have been reported with the under-recording of diabetes as a contributory factor in deaths in patients with this condition. Indeed, RA has been compared with diabetes through its association with premature demise as a result of accelerated atherosclerosis, high incidence of renal failure and increased risk of infection, several of the factors confirmed as contributing to death in the ERAS report.
http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/content/46/2/183.full