How Smoking May Trigger Rheumatoid Arthritis

It is a commonly known fact that smoking is injurious for health, can cause lung cancer, and is often associated with negatively impacting other known conditions and diseases in an individual. It is not just lung cancer which is caused due to smoking, but various other cardiovascular diseases are caused due to smoking. Besides these diseases, it has now been proved to be a trigger element for rheumatoid arthritis. Several studies have been made to determine the relation between this disease and smoking. However, the element of smoking which is mainly responsible for increasing risk of rheumatoid arthritis is still unknown. The fact that smoking during the treatment phase of rheumatoid arthritis causes the disease to progress rapidly, is also ambiguous till date.

Several researches have been made to determine the effects of smoking on rheumatoid arthritis patients. It has been found that the rheumatoid factor is not present in the blood of all the patients. The binding of few antibodies to others result in initiating the symptoms of this autoimmune disorder. It is said that the about 20 percent ageing people contain high levels of rheumatoid factor in their blood. Although it is supposed to be more in the blood of those who smoke as compared to those who don't.

This factor keeps on increasing with the passage of time, but only in those who are regular smokers. Thus, smoking has harmful effects on the patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Furthermore, smoking is scientifically proved to have harmful effects on the recovery process of the patient. The risk of the disease is comparatively more in women than men; the ratio is 3:1.

It is also stated that smoking decreases the impacts of medicines, and triggers the risk factor of the disease. Several studies have shown that patients, who smoked while being treated, can never achieve maximum benefits from conventional medications.

According to the statistics established by the World Health Organization, nearly 0.8 percent of the adults throughout the world are suffering from this autoimmune disorder. Moreover, healthy people can also acquire this dreadful condition. Statistics have shown that the smokers are more prone to this disease, as compared to the non smokers. The longer the span of smoking, the more is the chance of disease. Smoking leaves the patient with bad breath, yellow teeth and fingertips, frequent colds and cough. Hence, it is advisable to avoid smoking, especially for those who are suffering from this chronic autoimmune disorder.