Possible risk factors
There are a number of things that may increase your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, including:
- your genes – there's some evidence that rheumatoid arthritis can run in families, although the risk of inheriting it is thought to be low as genes are only thought to play a small role in the condition
- hormones – rheumatoid arthritis is more common in women than men, which may be because of the effects of the hormone oestrogen, although this link has not been proven
- smoking – some evidence suggests that people who smoke have an increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis
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