Reproductive and menopausal factors and risk of systemic lupus erythematosus in women.

Objective: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) occurs predominantly in women, and hormones may play a role in its etiology. This study was carried out to examine associations between female reproductive and menopausal factors and the development of SLE.

Methods: A cohort of 238,308 women was prospectively examined.

Smoking intensity, duration, and cessation, and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women.

Background: Cigarette smoking has been associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but the importance of smoking intensity, duration, and time since quitting, and whether the risk is primarily for rheumatoid factor (RF) seropositive versus seronegative RA are still unclear.

Methods: We conducted a prospective analysis of smoking and the risk of RA among 103,818 women in the Nurses' Health Study. A total of 680 RA cases, diagnosed from 1976 and 2002, were confirmed using a questionnaire and medical record review.

Radiographic joint space width in the fingers of patients with rheumatoid arthritis of less than one year's duration.

Objective: To determine the radiographic joint space width (JSW) in undamaged metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to identify important clinical determinants of JSW.

Methods: Radiographs of patients with RA of <1 year's duration, from an early arthritis cohort at a tertiary care rheumatology clinic, were obtained. JSW was analyzed by joint, finger, age, sex, height, and a number of other clinically relevant variables.

Higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are associated with better lower-extremity function in both active and inactive persons aged > or =60 y.

Background: Vitamin D may improve muscle strength through a highly specific nuclear receptor in muscle tissue.

Objectives: We investigated whether there is an association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations and lower-extremity function in ambulatory older persons, whether that association differs by activity level, and, if so, whether there is an identifiable threshold in the association.

Design: The study was a population-based survey of the ambulatory US population aged 60 to > or =90 y (n = 4100).

A randomized clinical trial of a psychoeducational intervention to improve outcomes in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: In a cross-sectional study, we previously identified 2 potentially modifiable risk factors for adverse outcomes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): self-efficacy and social support. The goal of this study was to evaluate in a randomized controlled trial a theory-based intervention to improve patient self-efficacy and partner support to manage SLE.

Methods: Patients with SLE ages 18 years and older who met the American College of Rheumatology criteria and were able to identify a partner (spouse or family member) were recruited from 2 academic medical centers and randomized into an experimental group or a control group.

Cigarette smoking and the risk of systemic lupus erythematosus: a meta-analysis.

Objective: Existing studies present conflicting evidence for the role of cigarette smoking as a risk factor in the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We performed an extensive search of the medical literature for all studies examining this relationship, and performed a meta-analysis to arrive at a more precise estimate of effect.

Methods: We performed a computerized literature search for all studies (in all languages), using Medline and EMBASE (1966 to present) and the Cochrane Collaboration database, and completed hand searches of relevant bibliographies and abstracts of conference proceedings.

Total hip replacement due to osteoarthritis: the importance of age, obesity, and other modifiable risk factors.

We studied whether several modifiable factors were associated with the risk of total hip replacement due to hip osteoarthritis among women.We identified 568 women from the Nurses' Health Study who reported total hip replacement due to primary hip osteoarthritis on questionnaires from 1990 to 1996, using a validated algorithm. The relation of potential risk factors, such as age, body mass index, physical activity, smoking, alcohol intake, and hormone use, to hip replacement was assessed using pooled logistic regression models.

Atherosclerotic vascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus.

In the United States, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disproportionately affects African Americans. It has become a chronic disease with long-term morbidity including chronic renal disease, osteoporosis, cataracts, psychosocial impairment, and importantly, atherosclerotic vascular disease (ASVD). The latter (myocardial infarction, angina, peripheral vascular disease and stroke) are strikingly accelerated, occurring in subjects who are predominantly premenopausal women at an age when ASVD is rare or unusual.