How Does Age Affect My Risk Of Developing Rheumatoid Arthritis?

— -- Question: How does age affect my risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis?

Answer: Well, there are really a couple of peaks of incidence of rheumatoid arthritis. There's an early peak about the age of 35 -- and it's more common in women than men by about three to one -- and this is where you see typical rheumatoid arthritis.

There's another form of arthritis that occurs in older adults known as polymyalgia rheumatica, which has a lot of features of rheumatoid arthritis but tends to be a much milder and more indolent disease than rheumatoid arthritis in young patients.

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