Hormonal and immunologic risk factors for the development of rheumatoid arthritis: an integrative physiopathogenetic perspective.

Evidence indicates that women who are susceptible to premenopausal onset of RA and men each have identifiable risk factors or risk markers long before onset of the clinical disease. Accordingly, further definition of such predictive factors promises to identify persons who are susceptible to developing RA during preclinical phases. Like coronary artery disease, once risks for developing RA can be reliably quantitated, research in primary prevention should become a realistic objective. Disease prevention objectives are central to the public health strategy of the National Arthritis Action Plan and the US Public Health Service "Healthy People 2000" plan (2010 plan also proposed). The decade of arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases (2000-2010) offers an incentive to nurture a new paradigm of RA prevention. Further research in neuroendocrine, immunologic, and microvascular risk factors for the development of RA promises to unravel its complex physiopathogenetic mechanisms and permit identification of persons who are at high risk for developing this disease. Successful research in identifying reliable risk factors (or markers) can be expected to lead to prevention strategies. Effective programs in identifying persons susceptible to RA could lead to earlier control measures and significantly reduce the enormous burden of this common disease, which affects all segments of the population.