Promising research on a potential cause of rheumatoid arthritis

Little is known about why the body’s own immune system starts to attack healthy tissue in auto-immune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. However, recent research performed at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Imperial College might offer a clue to the cause of RA in some. It is thought that a bacterial molecule that is known to be one of the major causes of periodontitis (a condition where the tissue that surrounds and supports the teeth becomes inflamed) may also be the cause in some cases of RA. If this is the case, this offers fresh hope that we will one day be able to treat and prevent these cases with the use of medication that will inhibit this molecule.