Menopause makes rheumatoid arthritis more painful, study suggests

Going through the menopause makes rheumatoid arthritis more painful, a study suggests.

The national survey found four out of five women reported that their arthritis worsened during the menopause. For a tenth, symptoms got ‘much worse’.

Researchers quizzed 779 women with rheumatoid arthritis who were either perimenopausal, menopausal or postmenopausal. 

The study, published in the journal Musculoskeletal Care earlier this month, also found that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was not effective in helping to reduce symptoms.

Nearly half the women who completed the survey were on HRT but only a third said that the drug had reduced their pain to a ‘moderate or significant’ degree.

Affecting more than half a million people in the UK, rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that causes swelling, pain and stiffness in the joints because the immune system is mistakenly attacking the body’s healthy cells.

While there are treatments for the symptoms, there is no cure.

Almost 93 per cent of women reported that they had no medical discussion about the menopause with a doctor, and the majority felt arthritis specialists need better training in how to treat them.

Experts believe the fall in oestrogen levels during the menopause is to blame for the worsening symptoms.

In a review published in the BMC Rheumatology earlier this year, the authors said that oestrogen levels play a ‘crucial role’ in the condition. 

Other studies have shown that women who experience early onset menopause are nearly three times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis.

The study’s authors wrote: ‘Patients feel that members of the rheumatology team should have more training and discuss the menopause more.’