Smoking causes 'over a third of RA cases'

Smoking is the cause of over a third of cases of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a new study, which could increase the need for assisted living or home care.

Research, published in the Annals of the Rheumatic diseases, found that as well as accounting for more than a third of cases of common RA, it also causes over 50 per cent of RA diseases among those who are genetically predisposed.

Scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm surveyed those with RA about their smoking habits and factored in age, sex and other relevant circumstances.

A spokesperson for Arthritis Research UK said that lifestyle factors such as smoking, eating a lot of red meat and drinking excessive caffeine may increase the risk of developing the disease as well as genetic factors.

"As there is little you can do about changing your genetic make-up, it seems sensible to reduce the other risk factors that you actually have some control over. So stopping smoking would be one obvious way of doing this," she added.

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