Birthweight associated with arthritis risk

A new study from the US has linked risk of rheumatoid arthritis in adulthood to birthweight.

Findings published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases suggest that babies born heavier than ten pounds or more than 4.54kg are twice as likely to develop the autoimmune disease in later life as those born with an average weight.

Lead researcher Dr Lisa Mandl, a rheumatologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, said: "There may be a relationship between being born over ten pounds and getting rheumatoid arthritis later in life. If there was some way that you could prevent someone from getting rheumatoid arthritis by making sure their birth weight wasn't over ten pounds, this is a risk factor that could be modifiable.

"You can't change someone's age. You can't change someone's gender, but potentially you could change someone's birth weight. This is however only speculative at this point."

According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, approximately 2.1 million people in the US suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.