According to a recent study published in The Lancet, people diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder are at substantially higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those without an autoimmune disorder.
The population-based study used electronic health records from over 22 million patients across the UK. The dataset included almost 450,000 patients who were newly diagnosed with any of 19 autoimmune diseases as well as over 2,100,000 matched controls. Participants were followed up with for a median of 6.2 years and monitored for the development of cardiovascular disease.
On average, participants with an autoimmune disease were 1.56 times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than patients without an autoimmune disease, with risk ranging from 1.4 to 3.6 times more likely depending on the specific autoimmune disorder. The autoimmune disorders that were associated with the highest risk included systemic sclerosis, Addison’s disease, lupus, and type 1 diabetes. Risk also increased progressively with the number of autoimmune diseases present, and patients in younger age groups who had an autoimmune disease were at greater risk than older age groups with autoimmune disease when compared to controls.
While the precise mechanism that leads to a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease is not well understood, the lead author of the study noted that the increased risk may be partially due to the systemic and chronic inflammation caused by autoimmune disorders. Autoimmune disorders are not widely recognized as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but about ten percent of the population in the US and Europe has been diagnosed with at least one autoimmune disease. This study suggests that improved awareness and screening measures for cardiovascular disease in patients diagnosed with autoimmune disorders are important and require further investigation.
Sources: The Lancet, Science Daily
