MONDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) -- The risk of rheumatoid
arthritis is twice as high in women who had a heavy birth weight
(more than 10 pounds) than those with an average birth weight (7 to
8.5 lbs), a new study finds.
Researchers at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City,
analyzed data from more than 87,000 women who took part in the U.S.
Nurses' Health Study between 1976 and 2002. The women were aged 30
to 55 at the start of the study.
During the study period, 619 women were diagnosed with
rheumatoid arthritis. Those with heavy birth weights were more
likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those with average
birth weights. This association held true even after the
researchers took into account factors likely to influence birth
weight, such as parental smoking, socioeconomic status, maternal
diabetes, age at first period, use of oral contraceptives or HRT,
breast-feeding and weight.
There is no obvious biological explanation for the finding, said
the researchers. But they noted adults with rheumatoid arthritis
have abnormal hormone regulation and this process may be triggered
while in the womb.
The study, published in the current issue of the
Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, supports the fetal origin of
disease theory, which states that certain conditions and diseases
in adulthood are programmed by factors during pregnancy.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about
rheumatoid arthritis.
