The Genetics of Rheumatoid Arthritis

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a,

Forgive me for this coming so late. Congratulations on your new grandchild,

isn't this Grandmom thing nice. Also I hope you will be very happy in your new

home. Best of luck,

Love Lynn

a wrote:

> The Genetics of Rheumatoid Arthritis

> Study examines hereditary factors in autoimmune joint disease

>

> FRIDAY, March 5 (HealthDayNews) -- Researchers have identified several

> disease features that are common among people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

> who are related.

>

> A report on their findings appears in the March issue of Arthritis and

> Rheumatism.

>

> The results point to certain genetic factors that influence susceptibility

> to the disease and its progression. The findings could help scientists

> identify new markers for prognosis in people with RA.

>

> Researchers studied 1,097 siblings from 512 families with multiple cases of

> RA. The volunteers provided clinical and demographic information, including

> whether their parents had RA.

>

> The researchers obtained radiographs of the hands and feet of each study

> subject, tested all of them for rheumatoid factor, and analyzed the subjects

> against a list of disease symptoms and possible manifestations.

>

> The study found that the presence of serum rheumatoid factors of nodules was

> strongly correlated among siblings. There was also a significant sibling

> correlation for age at RA diagnosis and disease severity.

>

> Interestingly, the study found that, regardless of the total number of

> brothers or sisters in these families, the number of siblings stricken with

> RA was remarkably consistent -- between two and three.

>

> This finding challenges previous findings that the number of people with RA

> is higher in larger families.

>

> " We did not observe an increase in the number of affected siblings as total

> sibship [the amount of children born to a couple] size increased. The

> striking difference in our results compared with those reported by

> investigators in The Netherlands indicates the need for further study of

> this issue, " study author Dr. Damini Jawaheer writes.

>

> More information

>

> The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about arthritis.

>

>