London, United Kingdom, June 9, 2016: The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2016) showed that the likelihood of achieving sustained remission in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is significantly lower in patients who smoke and who are obese. These findings suggest that encouraging patients to stop smoking and to achieve a healthy body weight could significantly improve their chance of becoming symptom-free after adequate treatment. EULAR recommendations state that remission (absent disease activity) is the target of treatment in patients with RA. However, many patients fail to achieve or maintain remission; within ten years of onset, at least 50% of patients in developed countries are unable to maintain a full-time job. 

"Despite the high prevalence of excess body weight and smoking among RA patients, relatively little is known about whether and to what extent these modifiable lifestyle factors impact the likelihood of achieving sustained remission," said study investigator Dr Susan Bartlett from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. "Our findings show that not smoking and a healthy body weight - lifestyle factors which can be modified by patients - can have a significant impact on becoming symptom-free." 

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a chronic disabling disease that affects the joints, connective tissues, muscle, tendons, and fibrous tissue, causing pain and deformity. The prevalence of RA globally varies between 0.3% and 1% and is more common in women and in developed countries.3 

The independent effects of Body Mass Index class (normal weight: 18.5-24.9, overweight: 25-29.9, obese: 30+) and smoking on time to sustained remission in the first three years shortly after diagnosis were estimated in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis who had been enrolled into the large real world Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH) study.