Diabetics are more than twice as likely to suffer from sever arthritis requiring arthroplasty (surgical replacement of an arthritic joint), than non-diabetics according to the results of a recent study published in the journal Diabetes Care.

The research, led by Dr. Georg Schett of the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, involved 927 adults aged 40 to 80 who were followed over a 20 year period.

Children suffering from juvenile idiopathic arthritis are more than 4 times more likely to develop cancer according to a new study published online in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism this month. The same study found that the increased cancer risk appear to be the result of the disease itself rather than the treatment, which normally consists of methotrexate and/or TNF inhibitors.

Timothy Beukelman of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and colleagues looked at cancer rates in a group of 7812 children suffering from juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and compared them to two control groups who did not suffer from the disease.

With no cure and a limited number of treatment options, many people living with arthritis turn to natural treatments to help ease their symptoms. One vitamin that has shown some promise as a potential arthritis treatment is vitamin B6 as some studies have linked deficient vitamin B6 levels with a higher degree of joint inflammation and pain in arthritis sufferers.

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.

Mothers who breast-feed for more than a year are around 50% less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis according to a new study published this month in the journal Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Malmo University Hospital in Sweden, compared 136 individuals who had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis to 544 women who were free of the illness.

Polyphenols found in green tea may both prevent arthritis and reduce the severity of symptoms according to a study published in the April 1999 edition of the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers compared mice who were fed water containing 0.2% green tea polyphenols with mice who received pure water after the mice were injected with collagen in order to induce arthritis.

Vitamin D, the so called “sunshine vitamin”, which is thought to play a role in coronary heart disease and cancer prevention, may also reduce an individuals risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis according to recent evidence.

The largest study looking at the effect of vitamin D on rheumatoid arthritis was published in January 2004 in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism. Researchers in that study analyzed 29,368 women who had participated in the Iowa Womens Health Study. The participants were aged between 55 and 69 and were initially free of rheumatoid arthritis. They were followed over an 11 year study period between 1986 and 1997.

Studies have found that smoking, as well as being a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and other respiratory problems, can also increase an individuals risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

One of the largest studies on the impact of smoking on rheumatoid arthritis was a British case-control study published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases in 2001. In that study, 239 people who had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis were compared to 239 healthy control subjects who were matched by age, sex, and job status.

Several studies have linked rheumatoid arthritis with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and myocardial infarctions (heart attacks).

One study, published in the journal Circulation in 2003, involved 114,342 women from the Nurses Health Study who were followed for 18 years. At the end of the study, 7,786 women (7%) reported to have developed symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers found that both heart attacks and strokes were more common in women with rheumatoid arthritis compared to those without the disease.

A study on mice, presented in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2007, has suggested that moderate alcohol consumption may actually protect against arthritis.

Researchers at the Gothenburg University in Sweden injected mice with collagen to initiate collagen induced arthritis (CIA) in the mice. The mice were injected at the beginning of the experiment and received an additional injection after three weeks. CIA development in mice is as established model of rheumatoid arthritis in humans.

A new study published in the journal Rheumatology has found that taking 10g of cod liver oil each day may reduce the pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) allowing sufferers to reduce their use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s) by 30 percent or more.

97 patients took part in the nine month study which involved individuals being randomly assigned to a group receiving either a 10g cod liver oil capsule each day or an air filled placebo capsule.

It is well known that arthritis sufferers are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes. A new study has found that switching to a vegan diet, free of gluten, may both reduce the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in those with the illness.

The study, lead by researchers at the Karolisnka Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, followed 66 volunteers who had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

Fruits and vegetables that are rich in certain carotenoids may reduce an individuals chances of developing arthritis according to recent evidence.

One such study was conducted by researchers at the University of Manchester and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2005, and involved following 25,000 participants from the EPIC study between 1993 and 2001. During the study, 88 people developed inflammatory polyarthritis, which was defined as arthritis in 2 or more joint groups.

Swiss researchers have found that ankle sprains or ankle stability can lead to arthritis in the ankle joint later in life.

The majority of arthritis cases occur through wear and tear of joints, particularly the hip and knee. It is well known however that a small number of arthritis cases are the result of joint fractures. It had also been suspected that sprains or strains of certain joints such as the ankle could lead to arthritis.

Weight is an important risk factor for osteoarthritis. Being overweight increases the probability of developing osteoarthritis in weight bearing joints such as the knees and hips. This is because heavier individuals put much more load on these areas leading to greater wearing of these joints.

A recent study in the United Kingdom has isolated a gene combination that causes people with rheumatoid arthritis to be as much as three times more likely to die prematurely from cardiovascular disease.

The study which was funded by the Arthritis Research Campaign and led by Dr. Tracey M. Farragher at the University of Manchester involved over 1,000 individuals with arthritis.

Glucosamine is an amino-sugar that is a major component of joint cartilage. It is thought that glucosamine can help rebuild cartilage and reduce inflammation, making it an effective treatment for osteoarthritis. While some studies have found glucosamine effective for the treatment of osteoarthritis, other studies have not found a link between glucosamine and osteoarthritis.