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Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...

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RA on the rise among women (per Mayo Clinic)

debRAinOC
debRAinOC
"Attention, Ladies!" That's the title of an article in Arthritis Health Monitor (Feb/Mar 09). Mayo Clinic researchers found that since the mid-1990s, the number of men with RA has remained about 29 per 100,000, but the number of women affected increased from 36 to 54 per 100,000. A related US News article online (10/27/08) said that the incidence of RA had declined steadily from 1955 to 1994 and then rose over the next 10 years. The researchers suggested that "environmental factors" may play a role. (Pretty vague, huh?)

I thought that RA affected many more women than men, but the numbers were pretty even a decade ago. So what happened in the mid-1990s that triggered the rise in RA among women?
deleted_user
deleted_user
I read the original article a few minutes ago and noticed something that is quite important - the study was restricted to residents of a particular part of Minnesota right around the Mayo Clinic (see quote below). So, when the researchers indicated that it was an "environmental" issue, they may have meant something in the environment around the Mayo Clinic. Not very helpful, I know, but, the study was rather small in scope and I guess the results should be interpreted accordingly. Thanks for sharing this one with us!

Here is the quote:

"Epidemiologists with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who are tracking trends in the incidence of rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, through the meticulously kept medical records of residents of Olmsted County, Minn., found that the incidence of the disease in women in the study population increased by nearly 50 percent from 1995 through 2004, while the incidence in men remained largely unchanged".
bigiblue
bigiblue
I also read somewhere that that estrogen has alot to do with RA in menopausal women. I don't tihnk it is just the environment of one paarticular state, because we are all from all over the states and even other countries.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Thanks debRAinOC, The most significant known environmental change that occured during the 1990's was the depletion of the ozone layer and global warming, if we are looking at the big picture across the whole globe. Now not wanting to sound like a hippy, mungbean-chomping, tree-huggin greenie, if you think about those two influences a lot of things come to mind.

Global warming has changed the way in which some viruses, bacteria, fungus and living cells reproduce because they have had to adapt to subtle increases in the carbon-dioxide levels. We do not really know the impact on all living organisms with the advent of acid rain, raised soil pH and contaminated waterways. In the 1990's air pollution increased, what affect have these had on the hormonal structure of women (and men for that matter) - who really knows?

The depletion in the ozone layer has as predicted, seen an increase in skin cancer/melanoma cases. The cells in our body are being constantly altered by all sorts of unseen environmental factors. Air pollution is higher, CFC's raised their ugly heads, humans produced more waste/rubbish, exposure to electrical and nuclear radiation is higher - you could go on and on.

I don't know the answer, but it's good food for thought and wouldn't it be great if a researcher, one day comes across the influencing factor that has raised the incidence of RA from that of 10yrs ago. Thanks for the brain-fodder!