A Study on the Hereditary Disposition to Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Summary In an attempt to study the hereditary disposition to rheumatoid arthritis the 854 siblings of 177 patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis were examined as well as a control series comprising the 203 siblings of 40 victims of various accidents. The difference between the two series is almost significant (96.5%), which would indicate that rheumatoid arthritis may be a disease of hereditary disposition. There is further support for the assumption in the observation that the rheumatoid arthritis series contains considerably more cases where symptoms similar to those of rheumatoid arthritis have occurred. Rheumatic fever and osteo-arthritis occur similarly in both series. Allergic symptoms were found to be very significantly more frequent in the rheumatoid arthritis series. Therefore, a constitution inclined to allergic manifestations might possibly constitute a noteworthy factor. Tuberculosis, infectious diseases, other internal diseases, occupation and place of domicile did not seem to have any significance with regard to the occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis. The occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis shows a ratio of 3:1 between women and men, and it is obvious that the first outbreak of rheumatoid arthritis occurs at a considerably earlier age in Finland than elsewhere.