Active smokers respond less to drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, reports the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
As shown by a 10-year Swedish study involving 1430 patients, conducted by specialists from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, active smokers with early-stage rheumatoid arthritis respond worse than nonsmokers to methotrexate and TNF inhibitors. On the other hand, people who quit smoking can be treated as effectively as non-smokers.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), rheumatoid arthritis suffers about 0,8 percent. people after 15 years of age. It is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, pain and swelling in the joints.
Smoking is a recognized risk factor (over a billion people smoke worldwide). (PAP)