rheumatoid arthritis | Arthritis Information

 

About 1% of the world's population is afflicted by rheumatoid arthritis. women three times more often than men.Rheumatoid arthritis is chronic, system inflammatory disorder that may affected many tissues and organs, but principally attacks synovial joints. The process produces an inflammatory response of the synovial secondary to hyperplasia of synovial cells, excess synovial fluid, and the development of pannus in the synovium. The pathology of the disease process often leads to the destruction of articular cartilage and ankylosis of the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis can also produce diffuse inflammation in the lung, pericardium, pleura, and sclera, and also nodular lesions, most common in subcutaneous. Although the cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown, autoimmunity plays a pivotal role in both its chronicity and progression, and RA is considered a systemic autoimmune disease.

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ThanK You for posting this information, which I believe strongly will be very valuable for newcomers (and even the rest of us)  to this forum.  To existing members on here, the url  is genuine - so don't take any notice of the word "diet" in it.  You'll know what I mean   Great article ravanraj! very informative and truthful:

There are several reasons why women are more prone to arthritis than men they include the following: 

• Biology. Women’s bodies are designed to give birth, and that means the tendons in their lower body are more elastic than men’s. “As a result, the joints probably move around a little more,” says Yusuf Yazici, MD, a rheumatologist at New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York. When the joints have less stability, they’re more prone to injury.

Also, because women’s hips are wider than their knees, their knee joints are not aligned as straight as men’s, Dr. Yazici says. The alignment of a woman's body leads to a higher rate of knee injuries, and injuries can lead to osteoarthritis later in life. Experts have found that women who play soccer, for instance, have at least three to four times the number of knee injuries as men who play soccer, Yazici says.

• Genetics. Osteoarthritis seems to run in families, and there appears in particular to be a genetic link among women. Women whose mothers developed osteoarthritis will probably find that they will develop it in the same joints at around the same age as she did, Yazici says. Researchers have found that hand and knee osteoarthritis have specific genetic links.

• Hormones. Researchers believe that female hormones have an effect on the cartilage that sits between the bones of the joints and cushions the bones to prevent pain and allow the joints to move about smoothly. In laboratory studies of cells that form cartilage, experts have found that the female hormone estrogen protects cartilage from inflammation, Dr. Shikhman says. Inflammation can lead to osteoarthritis. But after menopause, when women’s estrogen levels go down, they lose that protection and may have a higher risk of developing osteoarthritis even if they are on hormone-replacement therapy (HRT).

A recent study of 1.3 million women in their 50s found that hormonal and reproductive factors, such as going through puberty at an early age, having more children, and taking hormone-replacement therapy, were all related to whether they had had knee or hip joint replacement surgery, but the researchers don't know what these connections mean.

The study also found that women who started menstruating at age 11 or earlier had a 9 to 15 percent higher risk of needing hip and/or knee replacement surgery as an adult. Additionally, women who used hormone-replacement therapy after menopause were at significantly higher risk for hip and knee replacement surgery.

Giving birth was another risk factor for osteoarthritis found in this study. Researchers calculated that with each birth, the woman’s risk of needing knee replacement rose by 8 percent, and for hip replacement by 2 percent.

Although taking birth control pills seemed to have no effect on osteoarthritis risk, using HRT increased the risk that a woman would undergo knee replacement by 58 percent, and hip replacement by 38 percent . Researchers did note, however, that women who take HRT might be in more frequent contact with their doctors and may have better health care, which could explain why they were more likely to have joint replacement surgery.

• Obesity. Statistics show that more women than men are obese or severely obese, and obesity plays a major role in osteoarthritis, Yazici says. Extra weight puts more pressure on joints and can cause the cartilage between joints to wear away faster. With every extra pound you gain, you add three pounds of pressure to your knees and six pounds of pressure to your hips, according to the Arthritis Foundation.

Although women have osteoarthritis in higher numbers than men, a recent study found that doctors are less likely to recommend joint replacement surgery to women who have knee pain, compared to men.
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