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Brian Vastag

JAMA. 2003;289:2491.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is seeking 400 pairs of twins and close brothers or sisters for a study to identify the causes of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, systemic sclerosis, or idiopathic inflammatory myopathy, an autoimmune muscle disease. To qualify, one sibling must have the disease and the other same-sex twin or sibling must be free of all autoimmune diseases.

For decades, scientists have suspected that environmental exposures are a key autoimmune disease trigger. The new study should help sort out genetic and environmental factors in play, according to study leader Frederick Miller, MD.

"We'll look for exposures to a large number of drugs and vaccines, to bacteria and viruses, to foods such as dietary supplements, to occupational exposures, stress and ultraviolet light," said Miller. Blood and urine samples will be taken to test for environmental exposures and for minor variations in genes . . . [Full Text of this Article]