From the Popular Press: What Your Patients are Reading:

A study involving more than 6,000 people from around the world with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) found that a disproportionate number of women with the disease are women. Also, female RA patients were found to experience more symptoms and have a greater degree of severity than men with RA. Women tended to have a lower age at onset than men, and had greater levels of production of harmful arthritis autoantibodies. They also reported greater levels of pain and disease-associated depression. Differences such as pain levels and functional status may stem from the inherent differences between the male and female musculoskeletal system—because men tend to start out with greater size and strength than women, the deterioration of their joints and muscles does not affect them as quickly.

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