(no subject)

[Guest guest]

Long-term Smoking Linked To Rheumatoid Arthritis

NEW YORK -- Long-term smoking increases the risk of rheumatoid arthritis in

women, Harvard researchers report.

Although the increase is modest, it does provide evidence that environmental

factors -- and not just genetics -- play a role in the disease, say the

researchers.

" We know that there are a lot of health hazards associated with smoking, "

said lead researcher Dr. Karlson.

" We know there are genetic factors associated with rheumatoid arthritis, "

added Karlson, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and Brigham

and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

The study findings not only reconfirm that people should not smoke in

general, they also suggest that individuals with a family risk of rheumatoid

arthritis can modify their behavior to reduce the risk, she added.

The researchers found that women who smoked for more than 20 years had a 24%

to 39% increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, a degenerative

joint disease. Those who smoked more than 25 cigarettes a day over that

period had the highest risk. However, the number of cigarettes alone was not

associated with an increased risk.

In their study -- the largest to date on the subject -- the investigators

surveyed 377,481 female health professionals, who completed detailed

questionnaires on their health habits, medical histories and other data for

the Women's Health Cohort Study. Among this group, 7,697 reported they had

rheumatoid arthritis. Of these women, 3,416 had seropositive rheumatoid

arthritis, meaning their bodies developed antibodies, which confirmed the

diagnosis.

Rheumatoid arthritis affects about 1% of the US population, and occurs more

frequently as people age. It is more prevalent in women than in men.

The study findings, published in the May issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism,

support previous reports that suggested estrogen may provide protection

against the disease. Women had an increased risk of developing rheumatoid

arthritis during menopause, when estrogen levels dropped. This risk declined

for women who used hormone replacement therapy.

Since smoking reduces estrogen levels, Karlson and colleagues hypothesize it

may interfere with these protective effects. However, because they did not

measure estrogen levels in this study, this could not be confirmed.

SOURCE: Arthritis and Rheumatism 1999;42:910-917.

From Trish

TrishK@...

For health inf. go to....

http://www.bigfoot.com/~TrishK