Rheumatoid arthritis among hispanics in the United States: New evidence for a "Hispanic paradox"?

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by a dysregulated inflammatory response that targets primarily the synovium though other extra-articular tissues can be affected too. 1 Smolen J.S. Aletaha D. Barton A. et al. Rheumatoid arthritis. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2018; 4 (Published 2018 Feb 8): 18001https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2018.1 Crossref PubMed Scopus (701) Google Scholar A higher morbidity and mortality have been associated with a subset of patients who eventually developed extra articular manifestations, such as interstitial lung disease and rheumatoid vasculitis. Pathogenesis of RA is complex, but a combination of genetic and environmental factors has been identified, including the presence of the “shared epitope” HLA-DRB1 and tobacco use.