In the December 2010 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism (published by Wiley Blackwell on behalf of American College of Rheumatology), cigarette smoking increases the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
Rhuematoid (roo-ma-toyd) arthritis or RA is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the lining of joints and causes pain and swelling. Of the 1.3 million Americans diagnosed with RA 75% were women. Studies done earlier have suggested a link between cigarette smoking and RA. In the African American community 26% of the men and 17% if the women who are 18 years and older smoke.
Ted Mikuls (MD, MSPH) of the University of Nebraska Medical Center says, "The aim of our study was to bridge the knowledge gap by determining whether smoking contributes to RA risk in African Americans and define the extent to which this association is affected by genetic risk."
The results of the study show that heavy smokers accounted for 54% of RA patients.
"We found a two-fold increase in RA risk among African Americans who were heavy smokers, and this risk increased to more than four-fold in the presence of SE alleles," commented Dr. Mikuls. "Our results suggest that roughly one in six new cases of RA occurring in African Americans could be prevented through smoking cessation or by limiting cumulative smoking exposure to less than 10 pack-years."
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