Rheumatoid Lung

Rheumatoid Lung, also known as Rheumatoid Arthritis Lung, is an interstitial lung disease that affects people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or scleroderma, damaging lung tissue, inflaming the walls of the air sacs in the lung, scarring tissue between the air sacs and stiffening the lung. This results in decreased lung functions and can cause death.

Lung involvement in rheumatoid arthritis is not common, but can be caused by the RA itself or by some medications used to treat RA.

If you suffer from RA (or any other rheumatic disease) you should talk with your doctor about getting a baseline chest X-ray, if you have not had one. In addition, if you start experiencing shortness of breath or unexplained coughing let you rheumatologist know immediately. As with many other diseases, it's best to catch rheumatoid lung as early as possible.