Interview on MDR with Dr. Johanna Callhoff

Quitting smoking helps with rheumatism

On World No Tobacco Day, May 31, 2024, Dr. Johanna Callhoff, group leader at the DRFZ, answered questions about smoking and rheumatism on MDR AKTUELL. She made clarified that tobacco smoking is not only a risk factor for rheumatic-inflammatory diseases, but also that medications that are supposed to protect the joints from further damage are less effective in smokers. In the DRFZ’s core documentation, 22% of all patients with rheumatoid arthritis are smokers.