January 2011
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Dec		Feb »
	1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

Pharmacy Links

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AS OF THE COMMON FORMS OF ARTHRITIS

13th January 2011

This is one of the most common forms of arthritis. Its incidence varies among racial and ethnic groups, however. Approximately 1 in 100 Caucasians is diagnosed each year. It affects Asians at a much lower rate. Its incidence among the Japanese is roughly 2 to 4 out of every 10,000 people. Some groups of Native Americans, notably the Yakima, Pima, and Chippewa, have the highest prevalence rates at around 5 percent. Though the incidence of rheumatoid arthritis varies among races, its occurrence does not seem to correlate with where one lives.
Women are affected by rheumatoid arthritis three to four times more commonly than men. A major American study conducted in 1964 indicated that the prevalence was 3.8 percent among women and 1.3 percent among men.
Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most common forms of arthritis. No one knows exactly when this affliction came into being, especially in North America. Since artifacts and skeletal remains indicate that the disease affected North American Indians several thousand years ago, the disease probably predated the arrival of the first explorers. Communicable diseases like syphilis may have been transported to this continent by European explorers, but that is not the case for rheumatoid arthritis.
*2/141/5*