Rheumatoid arthritis is a crippling autoimmune disease of the joints. The function of white blood cells are to attack bacteria and viruses. For some, however, they move from the bloodstream into the joints’ surrounding membranes. The blood cells are responsible for inflaming the joints and causing the release of proteins that build up over months and years and cause further thickening of the joints. According to the Mayo Clinic, doctors do not know what causes rheumatoid arthritis.
Though no known cause has been officially determined, studies have exposed possible links. Genetics and viruses in the environment have been connected to this potentially disfiguring disease. Sex, age and smoking are other risk factors the Mayo Clinic has determined to cause white blood cells to attack the body.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Facts and Statistics
Women are three times more likely than men to develop rheumatoid arthritis. Women also experience more painful symptoms. Research presented at the Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies showed that 71 percent of women studied reported poor sleep quality related to the pain caused by their arthritis. One study published in the journal Arthritis Research reported that women with rheumatoid arthritis score lower than men on pain and depression questionnaires.
Rheumatoid arthritis can occur at any age. However, it is most prevalent between the ages of 40 and 60. For many years, it was believed that genetics played a larger role in the development of this illness. A University of Pittsburgh study reversed this belief. Their study showed that rheumatoid arthritis “may be more accurately related to the sex and age at onset of the affected family member.”
Who Gets Rheumatoid Arthritis
Even though genetics was determined less of a risk factor in developing rheumatoid arthritis compared with age and gender, it cannot be discounted altogether, either. The Mayo Clinic reports that though rheumatoid arthritis cannot be inherited, family members of sufferers do have a predisposition to the illness. However, it is siblings of the rheumatoid arthritis sufferer, rather than children, who are more likely to develop the disorder, according to the University of Pittsburgh study.
The American College of Rheumatology found that rheumatoid arthritis is nearly double for smokers than for non-smokers. They also found links between early onset of the illness and the number of cigarettes smoked per day in addition to onset of rheumatoid arthritis in old age and the number of years the person was a smoker.
There is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis. Treatment can only aspire to limit the inflammation in the joints, reduce pain and prevent further inflammation and deterioration. Some of the medications used to treat rheumatoid arthritis include steroid and non-steroidal drugs, immunosuppressants and cell-protein alpha inhibitors. In extreme cases, surgery is considered.
Sources:
Arthritis Foundation. "Arthritis in Women" (accessed July 2, 2010).
Science Daily. "Rheumatoid ARthritis is Associated with Poor Sleep in Women" (accessed July 2, 2010).
Arthritis Today. "Smoking Raises Arthritis Risk and Makes it Harder to Treat" (accessed July 2, 2010).
Johns Hopkins Arthritis Foundation. "Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment Information" (accessed July 2, 2010).
Shannon Marks - Shannon Marks is a writer living in Austin, Texas. She spent most of the 90s and 2000's living in New York City where she was an editor at ...
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