Micha Abeles is a practicing rheumatologist in Meriden, Connecticut. In this blog, Micha talks about the affects secondhand smoke has on children and their chances of developing rheumatoid arthritis later in life.

1. CAN BOOST CHANCES
O F G E T T I N G R A
S M O K E E X P O S U R E I N C H I L D H O O D

2. Each year The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), an
organization that represents the patient, healthcare professional
and professional societies of rheumatology in the European Union,
holds the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology. Not only
does this forum serve as a space where rheumatology
professionals can connect with patient organizations from all
across Europe, but is also helps rheumatologists engage with other
professionals and learn about new findings in the field.

3. If you recall my previous blog, Medicines May Help to Prevent
Arthritis, EULAR may sound familiar to you because this blog was
based on a report from this forum as well. As a follow-up to my
previous blog, I’d also like to talk about another interesting finding
that was presented at the conference: secondhand smoke
exposure from cigarettes in childhood can boost chances of
getting rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

4. “This is the first demonstration of a rheumatoid arthritis risk
associated with passive smoking,” explained Raphaèle Seror, M.D.,
a professor of rheumatology at the University of Paris–South and a
practicing rheumatologist at the Hospital Bicetre Kremlin Bicetre,
at the European Congress of Rheumatology.

5. “The French rheumatologist and her team analyzed data collected
from more than 70,000 French women, which followed their health
for more than 20 years. Then, the team identified a cohort of
women who had confirmed RA based on their self-report of having
incident RA, which occurs after a health-depleting action such as
excessive alcohol consumption or smoking, during a follow-up
study.

6. This cohort of women who had confirmed incident RA totaled 389
women. Majority of those women had a history of smoking or being
exposed to secondhand smoke. In fact, the analysis showed that
women who had a history of second-hand smoke were exposed to
it as children — and they were all exposed at an estimated more
than an hour every day. These women actually showed to have a
43% higher rate of incident RA compared to women who never
smoked or never had a history of secondhand smoke exposure.

7. To further confirm the suspicions of the link between smoking and
RA incidence, 37% of women with a history of smoking without
childhood exposure had the likelihood of developing RA, and 73%
of women who had both secondhand smoke exposure as children
and smoked into adulthood were likely to develop RA.

8. Although this study only analyzed women, it can be evident that
we can say the same for men as well. Regardless, “secondhand
smoke exposure to children was about as potent a trigger for
future rheumatoid arthritis as active smoking by an adult,” says a
report from Rheumatology News.

9. Were you frequently exposed to secondhand smoke as a child? Do
you smoke today? It’s probably a good idea to make an
appointment with your local rheumatologist to get yourself
checked for RA.

10. MichaAbelesMD.net
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