Study Links Estrogen to Rheumatoid Arthritis

[Guest guest]

Hi . Thank you for the article. It is very informative. I would like to

learn more about the effect of hormones on autoimmune disease. Thanks again,

you are a treasure to all of us! - Sharon

[ ] Study Links Estrogen to Rheumatoid Arthritis

WebMD Health

" Study Links Estrogen to Rheumatoid Arthritis:

Lab Findings May Have Implications for Other Autoimmune Diseases " :

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/88/99816.htm

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

[Guest guest]

You're very welcome, Sharon. And thank you!

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Re: [ ] Study Links Estrogen to Rheumatoid Arthritis

> Hi . Thank you for the article. It is very informative. I would

like to learn more about the effect of hormones on autoimmune disease.

Thanks again, you are a treasure to all of us! - Sharon

[Guest guest]

Study Links Estrogen to Rheumatoid Arthritis Lab Findings May Have Implications for Other Autoimmune Diseases

By Salynn BoylesWebMD Medical NewsReviewed By , MD on Thursday, June 03, 2004

New research may help explain estrogen's role in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases that afflict women far more often than men.

Women with rheumatoid arthritis tend to have fewer symptoms during pregnancy, when estrogen levels are high. Symptoms tend to worsen after they give birth and at menopause, when levels are low. Although a link between the female sex hormone and the autoimmune disease has long been suspected, the clinical evidence has been contradictory.

In the newly published study, investigators from Dallas' Baylor College of Dentistry report that estrogen directly influences key inflammation-causing chemicals, known as cytokines, that drive certain autoimmune diseases.

In a laboratory study, the researchers investigated estrogen's connection to CD16, a molecule that regulates inflammation. They found that when estrogen levels were low, CD16 levels increased. The findings are reported in the June issue of the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism.

"This may be one mechanism to explain how estrogen influences rheumatoid arthritis, but we are not saying that it is the only one," lead researcher Kramer, PhD, tells WebMD.

Just as in rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis symptoms tend to improve during pregnancy and worsen after delivery and at menopause. But the association is reversed in lupus, which is 10 times more common among women than men. Lupus symptoms tend to worsen during pregnancy and improve when estrogen levels drop.

Boston rheumatologist and Harvard Medical School associate professor Kay, MD, calls the new findings interesting but adds that they do not convince him that estrogen is the key player in autoimmune diseases that disproportionately afflict women. He notes that levels of the female sex hormone progesterone also rise during pregnancy and plummet at menopause.

"Plenty of women who are premenopausal with normal estrogen levels develop rheumatoid arthritis," he says. Kay cited a study from Ireland, published earlier this year, finding that estrogen replacement therapy did not appear to protect women against rheumatoid arthritis. Another study that included 158 elderly women with rheumatoid arthritis, published last fall, found the same thing. "You would expect to see a protective effect for estrogen therapy if this association were strong," Kay says. "It may be that estrogen plays a role in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, but it may not be the only sex hormone that does."

SOURCES: Kramer, P. Arthritis and Rheumatism, June 2003; vol 50: pp 1967-1975. R. Kramer, PhD, assistant professor, Baylor College of Dentistry, Texas A & M University System Health Center, Dallas. Kay, MD, clinical director, Rheumatology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital; associate clinical professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School.

http://www.prohealthnetwork.com/library/showarticle.cfm?ID=2216 & Reviewed=YES

Hugs, Jacy

~Sacred cows make the best hamburger

jacymail@...IM: jacygal - ICQ: 96949087www.geocities.com/mtn_rose

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[Guest guest]

Thanks for posting this Jacy! I've had some times when I've felt

there must be a link between my cycles (irregular as they are due to

perimenopause) and how my RA was doing for the day. I suspect that

like so much else with this crazy disease nothing will every be a

strong enough link to be proven.

Beth

--- In Rheumatoid Arthritis , " Jacy " <jacymail@c...>

wrote:

> NatureStudy Links Estrogen to Rheumatoid Arthritis

> Lab Findings May Have Implications for Other Autoimmune Diseases

> By Salynn Boyles

> WebMD Medical News

> Reviewed By , MD on Thursday, June 03, 2004

>

> New research may help explain estrogen's role in rheumatoid

arthritis and

> other autoimmune diseases that afflict women far more often than

men.

>

> Women with rheumatoid arthritis tend to have fewer symptoms during

> pregnancy, when estrogen levels are high. Symptoms tend to worsen

after they

> give birth and at menopause, when levels are low. Although a link

between

> the female sex hormone and the autoimmune disease has long been

suspected,

> the clinical evidence has been contradictory.

>

> In the newly published study, investigators from Dallas' Baylor

College of

> Dentistry report that estrogen directly influences key

inflammation-causing

> chemicals, known as cytokines, that drive certain autoimmune

diseases.

>

> In a laboratory study, the researchers investigated estrogen's

connection to

> CD16, a molecule that regulates inflammation. They found that when

estrogen

> levels were low, CD16 levels increased. The findings are reported

in the

> June issue of the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism.

>

> " This may be one mechanism to explain how estrogen influences

rheumatoid

> arthritis, but we are not saying that it is the only one, " lead

researcher

> Kramer, PhD, tells WebMD.

>

> Just as in rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis symptoms tend

to improve

> during pregnancy and worsen after delivery and at menopause. But

the

> association is reversed in lupus, which is 10 times more common

among women

> than men. Lupus symptoms tend to worsen during pregnancy and

improve when

> estrogen levels drop.

>

> Boston rheumatologist and Harvard Medical School associate

professor

> Kay, MD, calls the new findings interesting but adds that

they do

> not convince him that estrogen is the key player in autoimmune

diseases that

> disproportionately afflict women. He notes that levels of the

female sex

> hormone progesterone also rise during pregnancy and plummet at

menopause.

>

> " Plenty of women who are premenopausal with normal estrogen levels

develop

> rheumatoid arthritis, " he says. Kay cited a study from Ireland,

published

> earlier this year, finding that estrogen replacement therapy did

not appear

> to protect women against rheumatoid arthritis. Another study that

included

> 158 elderly women with rheumatoid arthritis, published last fall,

found the

> same thing. " You would expect to see a protective effect for

estrogen

> therapy if this association were strong, " Kay says. " It may be

that estrogen

> plays a role in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune

diseases, but it

> may not be the only sex hormone that does. "

>

> SOURCES: Kramer, P. Arthritis and Rheumatism, June 2003; vol 50: pp

> 1967-1975. R. Kramer, PhD, assistant professor, Baylor

College of

> Dentistry, Texas A & M University System Health Center, Dallas.

Kay,

> MD, clinical director, Rheumatology Unit, Massachusetts General

Hospital;

> associate clinical professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School.

>

> http://www.prohealthnetwork.com/library/showarticle.cfm?

ID=2216 & Reviewed=YES

>

> Hugs, Jacy ~Sacred cows make the best

hamburger

>

>

> jacymail@c...

> IM: jacygal - ICQ: 96949087

> www.geocities.com/mtn_rose

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

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