Risk Factors for Lung Problems With RA
Much is still not known about the connection between RA and ILD, but recent research has identified new risk factors:
Being Male Although more women get RA than men, men are at higher risk than women for developing RA-ILD, according to the Arthritis Foundation. “We need more research to find out why this is so,” says Dr. Sparks. “It could be genetic or that men tend to have a more aggressive severity of RA.”
Long-Term History of Smoking The Brigham and Women’s Hospital Rheumatoid Arthritis Sequential Study (BRASS) presented an abstract at the ACR conference that found that smoking above a threshold of 30 pack-years (for example, one pack per day for 30 years or 2 packs per day for 15 years) was strongly associated with RA-ILD. Sparks was a member of this team.