Smoking: doubly harmful for rheumatism sufferers
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.
More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.Not only are smokers more likely to develop rheumatism than other people. The destruction of the joints also progresses faster in them.
A smoker inhales 4,000 different substances with each lung. They not only damage the airways: they are distributed throughout the body via the bloodstream. Few people know that this also damages the joints: just seven cigarettes a day more than double the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
Even those who already suffer from degenerative joint disease can still achieve a lot by giving up tobacco. Because, among other things, smoking accelerates the progression of the disease.
Rapidly progressing joint destruction
Researchers led by Emil Rydell from the University of Lund have recently shown that smokers' joints often degenerate rapidly at the onset of the disease. This can be seen on x-rays as an increasing narrowing of the joint space and erosion of the bone.
Every fifth participant whom the researchers followed for five years showed such an accelerated course of the disease. Compared to never-smokers, however, this was 3.6 times more common in active smokers. In previous smokers, the risk was increased by a factor of 2.79.
Malfunction in the immune system
"We suspect that smoking causes malfunctions in the immune system, which in certain people can be the final impetus for the development of rheumatoid arthritis," says the President of the German Society for Rheumatology, Prof. Hanns-Martin Lorenz from Heidelberg University Hospital. Tobacco consumption can promote the formation of antibodies that attack the synovium and thus initiate the destruction of the joints - and fuel them later.
"The first months and years after the onset of symptoms are a crucial phase in rheumatoid arthritis," says the rheumatism expert. Today, early treatment can save many patients from destruction of the joints and a loss of quality of life.
Medicines work better for non-smokers
"Unfortunately, we often observe that the disease cannot be adequately controlled with smokers," says Lorenz. This is how rheumatoid drugs work better for non-smokers. This is especially true for the newer biologics. Rheumatism patients who smoke may therefore need higher doses and therefore have to struggle more often and more intensely with side effects of the rheumatoid drugs.
Quitting smoking is therefore one of the most important accompanying measures of rheumatism therapy, emphasizes Lorenz: "All patients should stop smoking at the latest when they take their medication for the first time."
Half a million affected
According to the German Society for Rheumatology, around 550,000 people in Germany suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. The body's defenses attack the joints. Women are three times as likely to be affected as men. Most fall ill after the age of 50. In addition to smoking, obesity also promotes the outbreak of the autoimmune disease.
