Rheumatoid Arthritis - A Family Affair?
The link between depression and Rheumatoid Arthritis is well known, but recent research suggests that the mental state of your spouse may also have an affect on the disease activity of your RA.
This is the conclusion of a study carried out by Mark Lam of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Lam studied 133 married couples and found that increased levels of spousal depression predicted a worse disease course in the partner with arthritis. The findings stood up even after taking into account initial depression and disability in the person with arthritis.
The mechanisms behind these results are not understood. The authors concluded that “whether depressed spouses are unable or unwilling to provide much needed support to the PWRA [person with rheumatoid arthritis], or whether their depressed mood affects PWRA outcomes in some other way, is yet to be determined”.
Nonetheless, this study suggests that a more holistic approach is required in the treatment of RA - one that looks at the whole of the person rather than just their symptoms. A word of caution though, the study was in part funded by Pfizer, a well known manufacturer of anti-depressant drugs. More research, as always, is required.
August 28th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
It does sound convenient that part of the funding was from a drugs manufacturer, but still interesting to read, not to dismiss any truth in the results.