Quit Smoking to Avoid Rheumatoid Arthritis

Stopping smoking has the long-term benefit of reducing the risk of developing seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by 37 percent over 30 years, say researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston. The study was based on data from the 230,000 women that participated in two longitudinal Nurses’ Health Studies, and focused on the 969 women that developed seropositive RA. Risk began to go down about five years after women quit smoking and continued to decrease the longer they stayed non-smokers. Patients with seropositive RA generally have more severe disease manifestations, including joint deformities and disability.

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