Smoking and overweight determine the likelihood of developing rheumatoid arthritis

Objectives Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a prototypic chronic inflammatory disease with a debilitating course if untreated. A genetic predisposition for RA is known, and its occurrence is associated with the presence of autoantibodies in the serum and with environmental factors. It is unknown if smoking and overweight are contributory factors for developing RA in individuals with RA-specific autoantibodies in the serum. Methods Fifty-five individuals at risk for developing RA, based on the presence of RA-specific autoantibodies in the serum, who never had any evidence of arthritis upon physical examination, were followed over time. Smoking was assessed as being never or ever smoker and body mass index as