Do gold rings protect against articular erosion in rheumatoid arthritis?

Objective: To examine the hypothesis that gold rings might delay articular erosion at the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint of the left ring finger in ring wearers with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Consecutive patients with RA were recruited. They were classified as ring wearers if they had worn a gold ring on the left ring finger throughout most of the time since disease onset, or as non-ring wearers if they had never worn a gold ring.