February 28, 2023

Mehrdad Arjomandi, MD

Epidemiology of Sarcoidosis in U.S. Veterans from 2003 to 2019

A Study of 13 Million Veterans finds Smoking is associated with Sarcoidosis
 

Sarcoidosis is a rare inflammatory disease that often affects the lungs and many other organ systems. The cause of sarcoidosis is unknown. Large epidemiological studies on sarcoidosis are scarce, but a few small studies in the past found a higher prevalence of sarcoidosis among nonsmokers. In this large epidemiologic study of the nationwide United States Veterans Affairs electronic medical records, Mohamed Seedahmed and colleagues identified 23,747 veterans with a diagnosis of sarcoidosis among over 13 million veterans who received care through or paid for by the Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. They found that a history of tobacco use was associated with a 58% higher likelihood of incident sarcoidosis.

Moreover, in addition to traditionally known risk factors for sarcoidosis, such as Black race and female sex, the study found a higher risk of the disease among veterans serving in the Army, Air Force, or multiple service branches in a single career. This is one of the largest national epidemiological studies of sarcoidosis to date. Future research should address how and why tobacco smoking and environmental exposures might contribute to this rare disease that is more common in priority populations.

The link to the article is here https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36724377/.

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