From the Popular Press: What Your Patients are Reading:

Although the incidence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in American women has been on the decline for the past 4 decades, it has recently began rising. In the second half of the 20th century about 36 out of every 100,000 women was diagnosed with RA, while now that number is up to 54 out of every 100,000 women in the US. For males, the incidence rate has held steady at 29 per 100,000 American men. RA causes chronic inflammation of the joints, and can be a very painful and debilitating disease. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic investigated the rising rate of RA in women, and presented their findings at this week’s annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. Although the researchers have not yet determined the cause of the rising rate of RA, they speculate that environmental factors such as smoking, diet, coffee intake, alcohol consumption, and high body mass index (BMI) may be linked with RA. Biologic response modifiers, a new class of drugs that offer tremendous relief to some RA patients, have recently transformed the treatment options for RA.

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