Page 26 - THE EVOLUTION OF EARLY ARTHRITIS AND CARDIOVASCULAR RISK Samina A. Turk
P. 26

CHAPTER 2
KEYPOINTS
• Risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) include family history, birth weight, smoking, silica, alcohol nonuse, obesity, diabetes mellitus, autoantibodies, and genetic variants.
• Symptoms, antibodies, and inflammatory biomarkers can be useful in late at-risk stages, and genetic scores plus environmental factors more useful in early at-risk stages.
• Prediction models of RA can help to select candidates for intervention studies.
• The best target populations for screening are relatives of patients with RA and (seropositive) patients with arthralgia. However, only a minority of persons at risk can thus be recognized.
• Screening for RA risk is still experimental, because there is no validated screening tool and no proven therapy to prevent disease.
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