Another good reason to kick the habit

June 21st, 2010

Two new studies have found that smoking is a major risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis and may reduce the effectiveness of anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) inhibitors which are used to treat the disease.

The reports were both presented at the annual congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome.

In the first study, Swedish scientists assessed 33,346 people who took part in the Swedish Preventive Medicine Programme between 1974 and 1992.

A total of 296 individuals were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis during that time and researchers found that people who were smokers at the start of the investigation were more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis in the future, regardless of whether they were male or female.

Lead author Dr Ulf Bergstrom, from the department of rheumatology at Skane University Hospital in Malmo, commented: “The results of our study have confirmed that whether or not an individual smokes cigarettes and the type of job that they do are surprisingly robust predictors of developing rheumatoid arthritis.”

The second study, also carried out in Sweden, involved 934 patients who completed a questionnaire about smoking habits.

Researchers found that smokers were less likely to have responded well to anti-TNF therapy after three to six months of treatment.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 4:58 pm |

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