Rheumatoid arthritis appears to be on the rise among U.S. women after four decades of retreat. The condition is an inflammatory type of arthritis that leads to joint pain, swelling, stiffness and joint damage.
The rate of new cases of rheumatoid arthritis in the United States declined from 1955 through 1994. But from 1995 through 2004, the rate was 54 new cases annually per 100,000 women, up from 36 per 100,000 during the decade previous.
About 1 percent of people in the United States have rheumatoid arthritis.