Comorbidities of rheumatic disease

All other diseases that coexist with a disease of interest are called comorbidities. Comorbidities in inflammatory rheumatic diseases may be associated with persistent inflammatory activity or disease-related organ damage, or may be related to medications. Lifestyle choices such as smoking or physical inactivity contribute to comorbidity. Patients with rheumatic diseases meet health professionals regularly and are more often tested for osteoporosis or cholesterol levels than individuals without rheumatic disease, which may contribute to a higher prevalence of some comorbidities. Comorbidities can also be unrelated to rheumatic diseases or their treatments. In this chapter, we discuss the impact of comorbidities to the patient. We emphasize the importance to review and manage comorbidities in usual daily rheumatology clinic, to improve outcomes of patients with rheumatic diseases.