From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-566007-935000
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (UPI) -- Researchers in France suggest that the
season in which rheumatoid arthritis symptoms appear may indicate the
severity of those symptoms.
The findings, presented in Copenhagen at the annual congress of the
European League Against Rheumatism, may help identify patients with
rheumatoid arthritis needing more intensive early therapy.
Study leader Dr. Gael Mouterde of Lapeyronie Hospital in Montpellier,
France, said patients whose first symptoms occur in winter had greater
erosion and joint space narrowing and their symptoms were rated more
severe at six months than those patients whose symptoms appeared in
summer.
Similarly, patients' symptoms after six months were worse if their
first symptoms had occurred in winter versus autumn. This effect was
not observed at a 12-month follow up. The researchers suggest initial
environmental factors probably exert less of an long-term effect.
"During our study of predictors of radiographic progression, we have
unveiled a distinct relationship between rheumatoid arthritis
progression and seasonal onset and postulate that this could be as a
result of either a vitamin D deficiency or environmental factors, such
as winter viruses, influencing protein citrullination," Mouterde said
in a statement.
Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies, Mouterde said, are often found
in the immune systems of rheumatoid arthritis patients and may assist
in identifying patients at a higher risk of developing structural
damage.