The self-destructive immune response of rheumatoid arthritis may be caused by a combination of genetic susceptibility and an environmental trigger. Changing hormones also may play an important part in the disease, possibly in response to an infection from the environment.
More than one gene has been linked to risk for rheumatoid arthritis. Specific genes may increase a person’s chance of developing the disease, and also could partially determine how serious his or her condition is. However, since not all people with a genetic predisposition to rheumatoid arthritis actually have the disease, other factors must be important.
A specific environmental trigger has not yet been found, but some research suggests that infection by a virus or bacterium leads to rheumatoid arthritis in genetically susceptible people. This does not mean that rheumatoid arthritis is contagious. People with rheumatoid arthritis appear to have more antibodies in the synovial fluid in their joints, suggesting that there may be an infection.
Low levels of hormones from the adrenal gland are common in people with rheumatoid arthritis, but how hormones interact with environmental and...
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