Date: 04.10.2016
From: lucy
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Subject: Smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
I was at the hospital yesterday and read a leaflet saying that smoking causes rheumatoid arthritis. I used to be a smoker and stopped around ten years ago, i've had RA for about fifteen years. I'm just interested to know how many people with RA do smoke or were smokers and if there is many with RA that didn't smoke. I guess there are many causes of RA and if smoking is one of them then its definitely worth while stopping.
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Date: 04.10.2016
From: Suz
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Subject: Re: Smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
Hi Lucy, I never smoked in my life. I got R.A at early age of 17. I feel mine got triggered by wrong antibiotics. My sister smokes she got joint aches and pains I think that might be smoke related.
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Date: 04.10.2016
From: lucy
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Subject: Re: Smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
Hi Suz, My sister was a heavy smoker and never got RA but I did and never smoked near as much as she did, although she had lung problems caused by smoking. Perhaps smoking does increase the chances of getting RA but there must be other reasons. I remember having lots of antibiotics for a recurring problem and sometimes wonder if that was what caused mine and I was told stress could trigger it off and i've had plenty of that lol. Hope you are doing alright x
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Date: 04.10.2016
From: Colin W
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Subject: Re: Smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
there is something the tobacco leaf picks up from the ground & linked to RA , they are doing checks on heavy metals & links to RA & think tobacco absorbs some heavy metals they keep asking if I was involved with metal smelting but its similar to what I did working in a foundry
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Date: 04.10.2016
From: lucy
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Subject: Re: Smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
Hi Colin, I just wish we could find out what actually causes it and what makes our immune system start attacking our joints. My mother also had RA and she was a french polisher.
How are you doing? has the leg ulcer healed and are you back on the rituximab yet? x
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Date: 05.10.2016
From: Colin W
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Subject: Re: Smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
for myself , no ... no & no had these leg ulcer for 15 months now , they done some xrays in august & at end of september decided I need 6 weeks of antibiotics but need everything to heal before they can do knee replacement & only after then rituximab still think they are a long way off know what goes wrong with our immune system & then why does some of us get extreme reaction , my CRP is well controled at moment but my knee / hip & right hand is causing alot of problems & cant get either of them fixed at moment hope you are doing ok & stays that way
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Date: 05.10.2016
From: lucy
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Subject: Re: Smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
That's not so good Colin, I hope the antibiotics clear the ulcer up. It can get you down when things don't happen but hopefully the six week course will do the trick, especially if it's the right type of antibiotic. I'm doing ok at moment, i have another infusion booked in 2 weeks, it does worry me having so many but feel i have no option. Take care Colin and i really hope things improve very soon for you. x
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Date: 05.10.2016
From: Suz
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Subject: Re: Smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
Hi Lucy and colin, Hope your both coping as much as you you can with this illness and other related things. I'm trying to help my self as much as I can keeping away from the wheat and dairy. I do still need to keep eye on my leg ulcer, have a scar which may break out if I don't wear compression bandages. I think smoking can cause R.A cause of toxin buildup in body from nicotine. R.A maybe caused by toxic overload where immune system tries to clear out the garbage from the joints, I suppose. God knows. Take care both x
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Date: 05.10.2016
From: lucy
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Subject: Re: Smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
Hi Suz, I'm not too bad thanks, although i wakened up this morning with a sore eye, I think I probably have an infection as it feel so hot and gritty and what looks like pus coming out it. Has your leg never properly healed? I remember you telling us before about it. I hope it doesn't flare up again but always best to keep an eye on things. You could be right about the toxic overload. We really should be careful what we put into our bodies although it can be very hard at times. Take care xx
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Date: 25.08.2017
From: DD
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Subject: Re: Smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
I think smoking cigarettes will always be the scapegoat for almost every disease. I am in no way promoting cigarettes but I've known several nonsmokers who have RA. Personally, I think our genetics, preservative's and additives cause RA to be more aggressive.
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Date: 30.08.2017
From: Sean
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Subject: Re: Smoking and rheumatoid arthritis
Smoking raises risk but is not the primary cause. The cause is "Errant immune response to a presented antigen - in line with genetics that match the antigen proteins" (In immunology, an antigen is a molecule capable of inducing an immune response (to produce an antibody) in the host organism. Sometimes antigens are part of the host itself in an autoimmune disease. Antigens are "targeted" by antibodies.) Smoking enhances a process called "citrullination" - causing sequences of proteins to alter and confuse the immune system. Additional research lead me to this - that Smoking Increases Epithelial Permeability. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9927360 So much like Intestinal Permeability (caused by Gliadin / Wheat.. or / NSAID drugs) you have antigens entering immune system too readily. The antigen for Rheumatoid Arthritis is likely to be gut bacteria - either PROTEUS MIRABILIS or E-COLI (both normal residents of the gut and urinary tract) So if you have "Increased Permeability" anywhere along your epithelial layer then these can enter the blood stream - and immune 'presentation of antigen' is confused by the presence of other Citrulinated Proteins (Smoking/ Gingivitis contribute to this). So in short smoking contributes to RA in 2 ways - 1) Creating additional 'weird' protein sequences
2) Allowing easier access of antigen to blood stream from gut and other membranes
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