Can someone explain this to me?

Question

I am reading a research paper on the risk of congestive heart failure in rheumatoid arthritis and there conclusion is: "Compared with persons without RA, patients with RA have twice the risk of developing CHF. This excess risk is not explained by traditional CV (cardiovascular) risk factors and/or clinical ischemic heart disease." Can someone explain that to me please if it is possible. Thank you so much.

Answer 1

If you controlled for all of things that are already known to cause CHF including ischemia (inadequate supply of oxygenated blood to the heart muscle typically causing changes in the muscle), people with RA would be still have an increased risk of developing CHF. This conclusion suggests that RA is an independent risk factor for CHF...that is, you could develop CHF if you have RA despite having no other reason to develop CHF.
Good luck.

Answer 2

People who have cardiovascular risk factors such as family history of premature cardiovascular disease, ethnic heritage, sedentary (no exercise), obesity (especially 'central' or abdominal), diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia (cholesterol), peripheral vascular disease and atherosclerosis have a higher risk of developing heart failure than someone without those risk factors and this increase in risk is known. People with Rheumatoid Arthritis have an increased risk of heart failure above and beyond that which would be predicted by their cardiovascular risk assessment and there is a theory behind this. Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disorder and inflammation is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular events such as stroke and heart attack. If you need additional information please let me know.