Two-Fold Risk of Heart Disease
For Women with Lupus

Women who suffer with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have a new reason to think heart smart. A study from the Arthritis Foundation has suggested that those women have a more than two-fold increased risk of cardiovascular disease over women without the disease.

Using the Nurses' Health Study cohort, researchers discovered that women with SLE are two times more likely to develop coronary heart disease and stroke than those women without SLE – this after adjusting for age, race, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, body mass index, physical exercise, smoking status and medication usage.

Though 53 years old was the mean age of women with SLE in the study, researchers said that, regardless of disease onset, women need to be aware of the elevated risk and make lifestyle modifications to address the issue, including exercise, weight control, smoking cessation and cholesterol lowering.