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>From Medline:
 
o Autoimmunity: The Female Connection
  -------------------------------------------------------------
  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.]