With contributions from Lana and Effie.
At this time, while there is ongoing research being conducted to try and identify the exact causes of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there are still no concrete rheumatoid arthritis causes. From various findings, there is typically more than one reason as discussed in greater depth below.
One theory is that genes and genetics are a factor. It can be difficult to say if this means RA is explicitly passed down or an umbrella of autoimmune diseases is passed from one generation to another.
It is often the case that autoimmune diseases in general run in families. So, if a parent has rheumatoid arthritis, their child may develop the disease or an entirely different health issue. Sometimes there are cases where a child may never develop the condition, showing that environmental triggers can be a big factor in turning on certain genes.
There is also