Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory joint disease of autoimmune nature, characterized by painful, swollen joints that can severely impair physical function and quality of life. 1,2 The disease affects women 2-3 times more often than men and occurs at any age. 3 The peak incidence is between ages 50-60 years. In Western countries, the prevalence of RA is in the range of 0.5%-1.0% in White individuals, while the prevalence ratios were 0.45, 0.69 and 1.02 for women of Hispanic, Asian or African-American descent,