Can stress cause rheumatoid arthritis

Answer 1

It is doubtful that stress actually causes RA, however there seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence that extreme bouts of stress can bring about flare ups in the disease. In my own particular case I tend to get worse bouts of inflammation when under frustrating stress,

Answer 2

I have RA and from what I have on it both from a general knowledge point of veiw and a personal one. I would say that in the first place the nature of the disease indicates that stress is not at the root of the problem, You either have a disposition to developing it or you haven't. However having said that, in my experience I have found that certain types of stress does tend to bring on flare ups if you happen to be an RA sufferer.The sort of situations where a certain degree of frustration and a feeling of helplessness is involved.