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Living close to traffic raises rheumatoid arthritis risk
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Transtlate LOS ANGELES, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Living near major roads may boost rheumatoid arthritis risk, a new study suggests.
Women who lived within 50 meters of interstates or primary, multi-lane roads were 31 percent more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA) than those who lived more than 200 meters from a major roadway, according to the study conducted by U.S. researchers.
The study also found women who lived within 50 meters of the largest roadways had a 63-percent increased risk.
The study based its findings on analysis of the records of 90,000 women and measurement of the distance between each woman's home and the nearest major roadways.
"Even after accounting for the effects of age, race, sex, socioeconomic status and cigarette smoking, the increased risk for women located near major roads remained substantially higher," Jaime Hart, a research fellow in the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in the study.
It's believed that genetic factors account for less than 50 percent of rheumatoid arthritis risk, and that environmental factors such as cigarette smoke may increase the risk of developing RA, according to the study.
"This, coupled with prior research that suggests air pollution from traffic can cause systemic inflammation, prompted us to study whether there was a direct relationship between air pollution and the risk of RA," Hart said.
Further research is needed to determine the exact effect that specific, measured levels of pollution have on the risk of developing the condition, said the study published online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives on Thursday.
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