Join the country club? Keep breastfeeding? “What type of people are more at risk for rheumatoid arthritis [RA], ” asked a team of researchers at The University of Manchester in the UK. The team, led by Professor Ian Bruce, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator and Professor of Rheumatology at The University of Manchester and consultant at Central Manchester University Hospitals National Health Services (NHS) Foundation Trust, looked into the association between lifestyle factors and the risk of developing RA. When they compared 184 participants who went on to develop arthritis to those who did not, they found that smoking, obesity and having diabetes all increased the risk.
Lifestyle Factors and RA
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The research group at the Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology looked at a sample of over 25, 000 people, aged 40 to 79 years old who have been followed over a number of years to discover if lifestyle factors had an affect on developing the disease.
The team also found that drinking a small amount of alcohol and being in a higher social class were associated with a reduced risk of developing the disease. The study, funded by Arthritis Research UK, also examined gender specific factors and found women who had more than two children and breastfed for a shorter amount of time also had a higher risk of developing RA. The scientists also concluded that this information could be used to develop a simple screening tool, used by GPs and primary care workers, to identify patients with a higher risk of developing RA who could be offered advice to reduce their risk.
Professor Bruce said in the March 18, 2013 news release, “The factors we studied give us vital clues to the early events in the process that ends in someone developing RA. They are also simple to ask about and can be used as part of a prevention programme. Our new wave of funding from the Medical Research Council and National Institute of Health Research has allowed us to move forward to the next stage in our attempt to prevent the development of this distressing condition.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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