Breathing smoke and dust at work may increase risk of rheumatoid arthritis: study

A new study finds that breathing in certain workplace dusts and fumes may increase your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

Inhaling such particles from substances such as vapors, gases and solvents can also exacerbate the effects of smoking and genetic susceptibility to autoimmune diseases. the studypublished in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.

“Our research shows that primarily occupational inhalation exposure acts as an important environmental risk factor. [rheumatoid arthritis] Written by the authors, a team of medical researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

A chronic joint disease characterized by painful inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis affects up to 1% of the world’s population. study authors point out.

Scientists already know that smoking increases the risk of developing the disorder, but Karolinska’s team sought to determine whether inhaling workplace dust and smoke could also have an effect. did.

To draw conclusions, the researchers utilized data available through the Swedish Rheumatoid Arthritis Epidemiological Survey.

The database includes 4,033 people newly diagnosed with the disease between 1996 and 2017, as well as 6,485 age- and gender-matched people without the disease. .

According to the study, each participant also received a score based on whether they carried genes that could increase their risk of developing the disease.

The types of rheumatoid arthritis diagnoses patients receive are characterized by the presence or absence of specific types of antibodies, and being positive for these antibodies indicates a poor prognosis, the authors explained.

Even if these antibodies are negative, the patient may still have the disorder.but about 60-80% According to the Arthritis Foundation, among rheumatoid arthritis patients, antibody tests tested positive.

In a Swedish study, patients who tested positive for antibodies were slightly younger, tended to be female, and were more likely to smoke than those who tested negative.

About 73% of those who tested positive for antibodies had been exposed to workplace contaminants, while 72% of those who tested negative and 67% of control subjects had also been exposed.

Researchers found that workplace exposure to pathogens was associated with a 25% increased risk of developing antibody-positive rheumatoid arthritis. Studies show that risk jumped to 40% in men.

The authors determined that among the pathogens most strongly associated with that increased risk were quartz, asbestos, diesel fumes, gasoline fumes, carbon monoxide, and disinfectants.

Studies have shown that only a few substances, such as quartz, asbestos, and detergents, were strongly associated with the development of antibody-negative rheumatoid arthritis.

Emphasizing that their study was only an observation, the authors admitted that they could not establish the cause of their findings.

However, they called for “extended measures to reduce these exposures as part of a joint international effort to reduce morbidity from work life.”

and Accompanying editorialtwo researchers not involved in the study, also emphasized the need for greater public health efforts to curb the risk of developing the disease.

Jeffrey Sparks of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Vanessa Kronzer of the Mayo Clinic said, “First, environmental health initiatives reduce public exposure to environmental pollutants such as carbon monoxide and gasoline exhaust fumes. should.

“Second, occupational health initiatives should mitigate occupational hazards, including those involving detergents and asbestos,” the doctor continued.

“Third, public health initiatives must continue to reduce tobacco smoking,” they added.