Children can raise risk of mother’s rheumatoid arthritis

A woman’s children can increase her risk of rheumatoid arthritis, research suggests.

Foetal cells from an unborn baby may remain in a mother’s body for decades and trigger an immune reaction linked to the disease, scientists say. However, whether or not this happens depends on a child’s genetic make-up.

US researcher Giovanna Cruz, from the University of California at Berkeley, said: “During pregnancy, you’ll find a small number of foetal cells circulating around the mother’s body, and it seems that in some women, they persist as long as several decades.