Some 100,000 people in Taiwan suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, and the disease is three times more common in women than it is in men, a doctor at National Cheng Kung University Hospital said on Sunday.
Wang Chung-jen (
Wang said the incidence rate of rheumatoid arthritis in the nation was 0.04 percent, lower than the 1 percent in the US.
He pointed out that rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints, the tissue around the joints, such as the tendons and ligaments, or even various organs of the body.
An autoimmune disease occurs when the body's tissues are mistakenly attacked by the body's own immune system, because antibodies in the blood see the tissues as foreign invaders.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a progressive illness that has the potential to cause joint deformity.
The cause of the disease is unknown.
Some scientists believe susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis may be genetic. Others suspect that certain infections or environmental factors may trigger the disease.
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