Rheumatoid arthritis is often seen as “just” joint pain, but Mayo Clinic rheumatologist Dr. John Davis and University of Colorado researcher Dr. Kevin Deane reveal a far more complex and promising story. In this episode of Tomorrow’s Cure, host and journalist Cathy Wurzer explores how autoimmune disease can quietly develop for years before the first swollen joint, and how new blood tests, gut microbiome insights, and the exposome, our lifetime of environmental exposures such as cigarette smoke and wildfire haze, are helping clinicians see risk much earlier.

The conversation dives into emerging tools that use artificial intelligence to sift through genetics, autoantibodies, microbiome data, and real-world exposures to predict who is most likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis and who will respond to specific treatments. Hear how prevention trials, lessons from type 1 diabetes, and more virtual models of care could change what it means to live with, or even avoid, rheumatoid arthritis in the future.

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