Risk of Thyroxine-Treated Autoimmune Thyroid Disease Associated With Disease Onset in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Compared with the general population, Swedish patients with RA appear to have a higher prevalence of thyroxine-treated AITD at diagnosis of RA and an increased incidence of AITD during the 5-year period before diagnosis of RA. After diagnosis of RA, the risk of developing AITD is suggested to decrease below the expected rate. Besides temporal changes in diagnostic intensity, this pattern of risk raises the question whether AITD may influence the pathogenesis of RA (or vice versa) and, conversely, the question whether antirheumatic therapies may prevent AITD.