Rheumatoid Arthritis

For tens of millions of Americans, arthritis is a daily burden of chronic pain and discomfort, and the most pressing example of immune disease. We do not know whether or how hygiene and environmental change impact the incidence of arthritis, but once more it provides a compelling example of a complex disease that results from imbalanced activity of genes just trying to do their job.

My mother loves to start each day with a walk up the small mountain behind her home on the outskirts of Canberra. Whenever I return there for a short stay, I make a point of joining her on this ritual as soon as possible. The dry blue skies, familiar whiff of eucalyptus oil, squawks of magpies and kookaburra laughs, often even a glimpse of a ...

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