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Distribution and Incidence

When using the above definition, a number of re­searchers have indicated that rheumatoid arthritis is worldwide, affecting all ethnic groups. A sum­mary of prevalence data in rheumatoid arthritis has been provided by P.

D. Utsinger, N. J. Zvaifler, and E. G. Ehrlich (1985). Fifteen studies were cited from countries such as the United States, United King­dom, Finland, Puerto Rico, Canada, Japan, Bul­garia, and Jamaica. The authors have concluded that the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis, as de­fined above, is consistently between 1 and 2 percent of the adult population in all parts of the world. In general, females suffer the illness about two and a half times more frequently than males; however, prevalence increases for both females and males over age 35, making it normally a disease of the

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Source: Kiple Kenneth F. (Editor). The Cambridge World History of Human Disease. Cambridge University Press,1993. — 1200 p.. 1993

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