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>From Medline:
o Autoimmunity: The Female Connection
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Estrogen can have opposite effects on autoimmmune diseases.
While rheumatoidarthritis may remit in pregnancy, systemic
lupus predominates in women during the childbearing years.
These rheumatologists investigate the evidence indicating that
the relationship between hormones and autoimmune disease is not
coincidental. [Medscape Women's Health 1(11),1996.]