Resurgence of rheumatoid arthritis has been noticed among women in United States. The disease which was dormant for over four decades has seen an uprising. From the year 1955 up to 1994 the incidence rate of the disease showed downward trend while the prevalence and incidence rate from 1995 to 2005 was noticed as gaining strength.

A comparison between the records of the previous decade and the recent one was done and it was found that astonishingly an increment in the number of women developing this disease was noticed. Previously it was 36 out of every 100,000 women yearly who acquired it but now it was 54 while the men recorded at 29 per 100,000 and the population in its entirety rose from 0.85 to 0.95 percent.

The study was conducted upon 350 adult patients who fell into the average age of 56.5 years and where 69 percent were women and all hailed from Olmsted County, Minnesota. The results of the data collected were presented forth in the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals by the Mayo Clinic investigators at San Francisco.

The researchers concluded that they too were unsure of the recent development that is taking place among women in U.S. but doubted that environmental factors might have a role in shifting the incidence as well as prevalence rate among the fairer sex. A Mayo Clinic rheumatologist and lead investigator of the study, Sherine Gabriel said, "More research needs to be done to better understand the causes and treatment of this devastating disease."