HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A British study is shedding light on hormonal and reproductive factors that could be linked to the development of rheumatoid arthritis which is one of the most common autoimmune joint diseases.
Rheumatologist Dr. Aviva Hopkins with Concierge Rheumatology and Internal Medicine said research found that girls who begin menstruating after age 14 had a 13% greater risk for RA.
The study also found that women who entered menopause before age 45, naturally or otherwise, were 46% more likely to develop RA compared with women who experienced menopause at age 50 to 51.
“Obviously hormones are playing a role here because all of these are life cycle events so we should step back and see that this is something we should do more research in because this is an observational study meaning the researchers were looking at data from a data bank, it doesn’t establish cause and effect,” she said.
Hopkins said data does show that rheumatoid arthritis affects women two to five times more often than men, depending on the age.
Beyond hormones she said obesity, smoking and periodontal disease all are risk factors for RA.
FDA REQUIRES WARNING FOR CAR-T THERAPY
The Food and Drug Administration is sounding the alarm about the possible risk of secondary cancers tied to a form of immunotherapy called CAR-T cell therapy.
Regulators are requiring manufacturers to now add a “boxed warning” to their products’ prescribing information.
The warnings say some T-cell malignancies have occurred after certain immunotherapies, leading to hospitalization and death in some cases.
The agency added that patients and people participating in clinical trials with these therapies should be monitored the rest of their lives for any new cancerous cells.
The FDA has been investigating the issue since November.