Smoking and Rheumatoid Arthritis Beacon NY
Smoking and Rheumatoid Arthritis
Last year more evidence emerged that smoking worsens rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms. Cigarette smoking has long been linked to several diseases, including diabetes, lung cancer, heart attacks and the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. Now we know it can also make the disease more severe.
Smoking and the Increased Risk of Developing Rheumatoid Arthritis
Smoking is the main environmental factor that increases the odds of developing rheumatoid arthritis, according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). In 2001, British researchers found that smoking increased the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis when they analyzed the smoking habits of 239 patients with RA.
They found that patients were significantly more likely to be current smokers than healthy people. There was a 13-times higher risk of getting rheumatoid arthritis if the patient smoked 20 cigarettes a day for between 40 and 50 years. In addition, studies have shown that family history plays a role in developing RA. Yet, over half of the patients with RA had no family history of the disease.
However, some research shows there is an increased risk of developing ACPA-positive rheumatoid arthritis for people who smoke and have certain variations of the HLA-DRB1 gene. ACPA refers to anti-citrullinated protein antibodies that are used in diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis.
Smoking Worsens Several Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms
One of the other significant findings of the British study was that smoking increased the production of rheumatoid factor - a blood marker of rheumatoid arthritis. A subsequent study published in Rheumatology backed up this finding. Sixty-three women with advanced RA completed a questionnaire that included information about their smoking history...
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