Pritchard M H
University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.
Br J Rheumatol. 1992 Jun;31(6):395-9. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/31.6.395.
While being female is known to increase the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis approximately threefold, this study, by making use of a male control group, suggests that female sex hormones per se are unlikely to be the main cause of this discrepancy. Apart from the teens, when rheumatoid disease is extremely rare in males, the female/male incidence ratio remains almost constant throughout the adult age range, in spite of the reduction in endogenous oestrogen levels at the menopause. Pregnancy is known to ameliorate RA, but this study found that it was also the most common identifiable event preceding the onset of RA in women of childbearing age (22%), which may explain the apparent protective role of oral contraceptives in this age group.
虽然已知女性患类风湿性关节炎的风险会增加约三倍，但这项研究通过设立男性对照组表明，女性性激素本身不太可能是造成这种差异的主要原因。除了青少年时期男性极少患类风湿病外，尽管绝经后内源性雌激素水平会下降，但在整个成年年龄段，女性/男性发病率之比几乎保持不变。众所周知，怀孕会使类风湿性关节炎病情缓解，但这项研究发现，怀孕也是育龄女性类风湿性关节炎发病前最常见的可识别事件（22%），这或许可以解释口服避孕药在该年龄组中明显的保护作用。
