Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về y học được đăng trên tạp chí y học General Psychiatry cung cấp cho các bạn kiến thức về ngành y đề tài: Why are women predisposed to autoimmune rheumatic diseases? | Available online http content 11 5 252 Review Why are women predisposed to autoimmune rheumatic diseases Jacqueline E Oliver1 and Alan J Silman2 1 University of Manchester Oxford Road Manchester M13 9PL UK 2Arthritis Research Campaign Copeman House St Mary s Court St Mary s Gate Chesterfield S41 7TD UK Corresponding author Alan J Silman Published 26 October 2009 This article is online at http content 11 5 252 2009 BioMed Central Ltd Arthritis Research Therapy 2009 11 252 doi ar2825 Abstract The majority of autoimmune diseases predominate in females. In searching for an explanation for this female excess most attention has focused on hormonal changes - both exogenous changes for example oral contraceptive pill and fluctuations in endogenous hormone levels particularly related to menstruation and pregnancy history. Other reasons include genetic differences both direct influence of genes on sex chromosomes and indirect such as microchimerism as well as gender differences in lifestyle factors. These will all be reviewed focusing on the major autoimmune connective tissue disorders rheumatoid arthritis systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma. Introduction Size of the gender difference Autoimmune diseases of all organ sites and systems affect approximately 8 of the population around 78 of whom are women 1 . The diseases are estimated as being the fourth leading cause of disability in women. There is a consistent female excess for the major connective tissue autoimmune diseases Table 1 this excess varies between 2 1 and 9 1. Recent evidence has highlighted gender differences in disease activity as well as incidence with women with rheumatoid arthritis RA having worse disease activity than men with RA 2 it is unclear however whether this relates to the measures of disease activity used rather than to the disease activity itself. Effect of age Interestingly the peak female male ratio for all three
