A First: Link Between Physical Workload and RA

Using the Swedish Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis (EIRA), researchers have found that prolonged repetitive physical workload increases the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). According to the June 10, 2016 press release this is the first study to show a link between physical workload and RA.

The news release states, “To examine whether physical workload is a possible risk factor for RA, information on different types of self-reported exposure was analysed from a population of 3, 680 RA patients and 5, 935 matched controls included in the EIRA. To investigate whether some people are more susceptible than others, the risk was compared in subjects with and without a specific genotype (HLA-DRB1), and an analysis was performed in relation to the presence/absence of ACPA (anti-citrullinated protein antibodies) among RA patients.”

“We found that some types of physical workload increased the odds of developing RA more than others, ” said Pingling Zeng of the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. “There also appeared to be a significant interaction between genetic makeup, in terms of HLA-DRB1 genes, and the risk of ACPA-positive RA from specific types of physical workload.”

“These new insights into the cause of RA may hopefully lead to effective strategies to prevent the development of RA, particularly in those RA patients with a susceptible genotype, ” Zeng concluded.

Pingling Zeng told OTW, “We think that certain types of repetitive physical workload may contribute to inflammatory arthritis. These findings demonstrate the need for orthopedic surgeons as well as other physicians/scientists to take repetitive workloads and minor traumas into account when studying risk factors for arthritis. We cannot provide any practical advice yet based on our observational study findings.”