Some common rheumatic conditions more likely to affect women are listed below:

Rheumatic diseases affect women more than men, with some diseases affecting women up to 10 times more often than men. Due to differences in bone structure and hormones, women are more likely than men to develop a rheumatic disease.

1. Osteoarthritis, the most common condition that affects the joints, is found more frequently in women than in men, and it is more disabling in women. The bone structure of a woman’s body enables weight and impact to cause degeneration of the knee more quickly. Osteoarthritis of the hand is also more common in women, possibly due to genetic differences.
2. Rheumatoid arthritis: The female-to-male ratio is 3:1 to 2:1
3. Systemic lupus erythematosus: The female-to-male ratio is 9:1
4. Scleroderma: More common in women
5. Fibromyalgia
6. Sjogren syndrome

In addition to the above-mentioned, giant cell arteritis (GCA), myopathies , polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) , vasculitis, antiphospholipid antalso exits more among women compared to male.

What can be the possible contributing factors?

The expression of a disease appears to be different in men than in women. – Male hormones appear to suppress the immune system, while female hormones stimulate it. Some effects of rheumatic disease are related to the dose of hormones. The rise and fall in female hormones during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy, after giving birth, at menopause and while using oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may increase a woman’s risk. Genetic factors might interfere with the roles of sex hormones in certain individuals who have these diseases. The difference in sex chromosomes between men and women may be a factor in why women are more likely to get rheumatic diseases. Women have two X chromosomes, while men have one X and one Y chromosome. The X chromosome is much better larger than the Y chromosome and contains about a thousand genes.