ScienceDaily (Jan. 4, 2011) — Patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are current smokers were less likely to achieve good response to methotrexate (MTX) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors than those who never smoked. The study by researchers from Sweden also found that RA patients who smoked in the past did not experience a lower response to these therapies.
Results of the 10-year study appear in the January 2011 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 0.8% of adults (age 15 and older) worldwide have RA -- a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation, pain, and swelling in the joints. Current medical evidence points to smoking as a known risk factor for RA development and globally, WHO estimates there are more than one billion smokers. However limited data are available on the impact of cigarette smoking and response to pharmacological therapy in early RA.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110104071649.htm