Research Suggest Smoking Cessation May Ward Off Rheumatoid Arthritis

(Newswire.net — July 23, 2021) Orlando, FL — Rheumatoid arthritis is second to osteoarthritis as the most common form of arthritis in the United States. Today, there are quite a number of studies that look into the various aspects of this condition.

One study was published in Arthritis Care & Research.

It was carried out by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

They leveraged data from the Nurses’ Health Studies to find out whether smoking cessation delays or prevents rheumatoid arthritis or if through it they are able to irrevocably and permanently alter their disease risk. 

The findings have shown that behavioral change, particularly smoking cessation, can lessen the odds of developing seropositive RA, the more severe form of the disease.

“Ours is the first study to show that a behavior change can reduce the risk of seropositive RA. Risk isn’t just about genes and bad luck — there’s a modifiable environmental component to the onset of this disease and a chance for some people to reduce their risk or even prevent RA,” said corresponding author Jeffrey Sparks, MD, MMSc.

Sparks is from the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy at the Brigham.

In carrying out this research, Sparks and colleagues utilized data from the original Nurses’ Health Study, established in 1976, and Nurses’ Health Study II, a second cohort established in 1989. 

All of the subjects were registered nurses from across the United States. In this research, they were made to fill out health surveys every two years with questions including smoking and health status information.

In those with seropositive RA, it has been found that the risk started to go down around five years after women quit smoking. It also continued to decrease the longer they stayed non-smokers. 

“One of the lessons here is that it takes sustained smoking cessation to reap the full benefit,” said Sparks. 

More studies are still underway to look into the effects of making dietary and lifestyle changes on arthritis. It is worth keeping in mind that aside from smoking cessation, there are actually many ways to combat the condition.

Some nutrients like B vitamins are particularly beneficial in fighting inflammation and this is good for individuals battling with arthritis. 

There are some formulas like Divine Bounty B Vitamin Complex that are particularly helpful in delivering the healing goodness of B vitamins. It contains Choline, Pantothenic acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Niacin, Riboflavin, Thiamin, and vitamin B6.

This formula is made carefully in an FDA-inspected facility in the United States (www.amazon.com/dp/B07414752B).