Life expectancy with RA

I personally have not heard that statistic before and I have had RA for over 30 years. I think between all the medication we take and the side effects that there may be some lasting issues, like in my case, but I’ve never been personally told any of them are going to definitely shorten my lifespan. In fact, the new group of drugs called Biologics, which were released about 15 years ago or so now, have made it much easier for people with RA. My doctor told me that if they existed when I was diagnosed at 9 years old, I would have much less damage and maybe even fewer joint replacements! At the lest I’d say you have more reason to hope! Either way you never have to face it alone, we are here for you. Keep on keepin’ on, DPM

Thanks Daniel!

I have heard similar mentions of decreased life span related to RA. As I understand it, it isn't RA itself, it is the comorbidities related to chronic inflammation, such as heart disease. It is the reason I choose to aggressively treat RA and try to figure out how to improve my fitness level. Treatment modalities have advanced so much recently that we don't know how much improvement we will experience over our life span. I believe it will be very significant. Kind of like when I had my hip replaced in 2014. My surgeon said, we know most of the replacements we did 15 years ago are lasting 15 years or longer. But, with new techniques and hardware we expect the ones we do today to last longer. Just won't know for another 20 years or so...


Here's an article on RA and Lifespan https://www.healthline.com/health/advancing-rheumatoid-arthritis/can-rheumatoid-arthritis-kill-you


Hoping for many years of feeling better for all of us, Jo

Thank you Jo❤️