In the UK, around 450,000 people have rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune disease causing the body’s immune system to attack the joints, leading to inflammation, swelling and an excess of fluid. The disease is three times more likely to occur in women. The Danish study found women who smoked in the 50-69 age bracket and who have raised levels of rheumatoid factor were the most likely to go on to develop the condition in a 10-year period. Over the same timescale, the least likely to go on to get the disease were men aged 70 and over.
The research involved more than 9,700 individuals and was carried out over almost three decades in Denmark. None of the participants had the disease when the study started but over the course of the 28 years it was undertaken, 183 participants went on to develop rheumatoid arthritis. The Danish team discovered the presence of rheumatoid factor at certain levels caused a 26-fold increased risk of developing the disease.
The study advised that testing positive for rheumatoid factor should lead to patients being referred early for specialist tests, even if they did not demonstrate any of the other symptoms associated with the disease, such as joint pain and swelling.
More research is now required to examine the links between the antibody and the development of rheumatoid arthritis.