Hi Samuel, My husband Martin and myself have been married for 39 years. He is 60 and 8 years ago was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis . About 4 years ago I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis . I am now 57. We just cant understand how both of us ended up with autoimmune diseases. We have been looking for a cause but have been told that noone knows. We went through anything that happened in our lives that might have happened to both of us and that may have caused our diseases. We both have been bitten by red back (or black widow) spiders. I have read some articles that suggest that spider bites can cause a change to the immune system . What do you think. Thanks for your help......Chris