Arthritis: Tobacco smoke in childhood puts the joints at risk

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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Smoking parents expose their children to a variety of health risks. Among other things, there is an increased risk that children will develop rheumatoid arthritis later in life - especially girls. This was the result of a study by scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The researchers rely on data from more than 90,000 women who participated in the large long-term study Nurses ‘Health Study II. It has provided data for many years, but has the disadvantage that it only includes women.

75 percent higher risk

It showed that women who had been exposed to secondhand smoke from their parents at a young age had a 75 percent higher risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis later than daughters of non-smokers.

For daughters of mothers who only smoked during pregnancy and women who were only exposed to secondhand smoke after the age of 18, the risk of inflammatory joint disease was not increased.

Autoantibodies attack joints

Rheumatoid arthritis is based on an autoimmune reaction in which the body's own antibodies (autoantibodies) mainly attack the joints. Smoking has long been a key risk factor for this. "But the majority of rheumatoid arthritis patients don't smoke, so we wanted to look at other inhalation factors that could precede the disease," said senior author Jeffrey A. Sparks.

For the study, the participants were questioned and examined regularly over decades on health aspects. A total of 532 women developed rheumatoid arthritis during the average observation period of around 28 years, and corresponding autoantibodies were found in 352.

Subsequent studies are intended to check whether passive smoke also has comparable effects in boys. Since the study only included women, the results cannot, strictly speaking, be transferred to men. However, it seems very likely that the connection also affects the male offspring.

Whether the risk of other autoimmune diseases increases would also be an interesting subject for further investigation.

Creeping destruction of the joints

Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by an autoimmune reaction that specifically affects the joints, especially toe and finger joints, wrists, ankles, and knees. Typical symptoms are joint swelling, pain and restricted mobility. The inflammatory disease progresses in phases. Without treatment, the affected joints will gradually be destroyed.

Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common inflammatory joint disease. According to the German Society for Rheumatology, 0.8 percent of the adult population is affected. The likelihood of developing it increases with age. Women get sick three times as often as men.

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