Stiff joints may lead to stiff hearts

"Researchers provide new evidence to uncover why people with rheumatoid arthritis have an increased risk for heart failure, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, California. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that causes pain, stiffness, swelling, and limitation in the motion and function of multiple joints. Though joints are the principal body parts affected by RA, inflammation can develop in other organs as well. An estimated 1.3 million Americans have RA, and the disease typically affects women twice as often as men" - newswise