Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk Lower Among Smokers Who Quit

Reuters cites a new study in reporting that adults who quit smoking decades ago may have a lower risk of rheumatoid arthritis than those who gave up cigarettes more recently. According to senior study author Dr. Jeffrey Sparks of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, "these results provide evidence for those at increased rheumatoid arthritis risk to quit smoking since this may delay or even prevent the onset of rheumatoid arthritis." Rheumatoid arthritis is an immune disorder that causes pain and debilitating swelling in the joints. Sparks and his colleagues examined nearly four decades of data on more than 230,000 women, including over 1,500 who developed rheumatoid arthritis. Compared to females who never smoked, current smokers were 47 percent more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis, the research team reports in Arthritis Care and Research .