Women living in the northeastern United States are more likely
to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA), suggesting a link between
the autoimmune disease and vitamin D deficiency, says a new
study led by a Boston University School of Public Health
researcher. In the paper, which appears online in the journal
Environmental Health Perspectives, a spatial analysis led by Dr.
Vernica Vieira, MS, DSc, associate professor of environmental
health, found that women in states like Vermont, New Hampshire
and southern Maine were more likely to report being diagnosed
with RA. "There's higher risk in the northern latitudes," Dr.
Vieira said. "This might be related to the fact that there's
less sunlight in these areas, which results in a vitamin D
deficiency." The study looked at data from the Nurses' Health
Study, a long-term cohort study of U.S. female nurses. Looking
at the residential addresses, health outcomes and behavioral
risk factors for participants between 1988 and 2002, researchers
based their findings on 461 women