Arthritis News, Articles, & Information

Heavy babies could be more than twice as likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than babies of a normal weight according to an American study published this month in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

The study focused on 13,639 women from the Nurses Health Study who were followed between 1976 and 2002. During that time 683 (5.0%) of the women developed rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers found that women with a birth weight greater than 10 pounds (4.54 kg) were 2.1 times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than women with a normal birth weight between 7 and 8.5 pounds (3.2 to 3.85 kg).

While the mechanism which links heavy babies to rheumatoid arthritis is unknown, researchers believe that hormone imbalances observed in rheumatoid arthritis sufferers may be “programmed” during early fetal development.

The study adds support to the idea that the probability of developing certain diseases may be influenced by processes that occur during pregnancy, a theory known as the “fetal origins of adult disease hypothesis”. A low birth-weight for example has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and type-2 diabetes while a high birth-weight has been linked to certain cancers such as leukemia, colo-rectal, ovarian, prostate, and breast cancer.