Rheumatoid Arthritis Tied to Birth Weight

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Rheumatoid Arthritis Tied to Birth Weight

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(HealthDayNews) -- A Swedish study finds a relationship between high birth weight and development of rheumatoid arthritis later in life. It's a puzzlement, as are the other relationships found in the study, says Dr. Lennart sson, who reports the finding in the May 17 issue of the British Medical Journal. But then, a lot about rheumatoid arthritis is puzzling.

This is not the wear-and-tear arthritis, formally called osteoarthritis, that many people experience as they grow older. Instead, it is an autoimmune disorder, in which the body's immune system attacks joints and surrounding tissue for unknown reasons.

"We know that genetics can explain about 50 percent of cases," says sson, an associate professor in the Malmö University Hospital department of rheumatology. "We have not yet identified a major environmental factor that is involved."

He and his colleagues tried to identify such a factor by digging up the birth records of 77 people with rheumatoid arthritis who were born in the Malmö area between 1940 and 1960 and comparing them with the records of 308 area residents who don't have arthritis.

They looked at just about everything in the perinatal period, the time around birth, that could be looked at: mother's age, father's occupation, whether the baby was breast-fed, the baby's weight at birth, whether the mother

had a previous miscarriage, and so on. And a few associations emerged.

One of them was high birth weight. Babies weighing more than 4,000 grams (about 9 pounds) were more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those of average weight. Another was breast-feeding; breast-fed babies were less likely to develop the disease. Another was the father's occupation. Babies

of office workers were more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those

of manual laborers.

The birth weight association has been seen in other studies, sson says, but he admits frankly, "I can't say why it is so."

The journal paper proposes several reasons for the association: the

way the immune system develops in the womb, the way the immune system develops

after birth, or simply "unmeasured confounding factors." Your guess is as

good as his about which might be correct, sson says.

He does plan more studies to get a clearer picture of the genetic and environmental factors that can lead to rheumatoid arthritis.

sson's attitude of bewilderment is shared by many in the arthritis medical community. Asked, "What is the cause of arthritis?" on a s Hopkins University School of Medicine Web site, Dr. Alan K. Matsumoto, an assistant professor of medicine in the Hopkins division of molecular and clinical rheumatology, posted this answer:

"There are many different types of arthritis and each has different causes. Likely even the same type of arthritis has multiple causes involving a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Ask me again in 50 years."

More information

You can get an overview of rheumatoid arthritis from the Arthritis Foundation or the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

[Guest guest]

Abbie was 7lbs and breast fed for 20 months. So theres another myth.

Christy (Abbie, 13 systemic)

[Guest guest]

Wow - my son fits two of those categories! He was 9 lbs 4 oz when he was born and he wasn't breast fed. Who knew?!?! Oh, and it may aid in the fact that my mother also had the same condition as a child and adult.

Jana (mom to Jake, 5)

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[Guest guest]

I was 6lbs 4 oz..breast fed for nine months

(poly JRA 18)

[Guest guest]

I was 5lbs 3 oz and I dont believe I was breast fed because I am lactose intolerant and I remember drinking soy and nutramamin.

[Guest guest]

Hi,

The theory doesn't work for us, either. Josh was a 7 pounder at birth and nursed for two years.

Aloha,

Georgina

superstahlisa@...

wrote:

I was 6lbs 4 oz..breast fed for nine months

(poly JRA 18)

[Guest guest]

was 7 lbs, 3 oz. and breast fed. Doesn't fit for her.

Diane (, 4, pauci)

[Guest guest]

All these messages are making me feel much better, believe it or not. I have always felt a bit guilty for not breast feeding. I only did with my youngest and she is my healthiest child. I have often thought that would not have all the allergies, asthma and arthritis if I had. Thanks for making me feel a little less guilty! Michele

-----Original Message-----From: dbornscheu@... [mailto:dbornscheu@...] Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2003 10:35 AM Subject: Re: Rheumatoid Arthritis Tied to Birth Weight was 7 lbs, 3 oz. and breast fed. Doesn't fit for her. Diane (, 4, pauci) To leave this mailing list, send request to: -unsubscribe

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Owen was born at 10 lbs and was nursed for 2 1/2 years and my husband is a construction foreman! The only thing that matches is his birth weight and honestly, of the 10 children in my family, we were all huge babies and none of us has arthritis. (My twin brother and I were almost 8 lbs each! And my younger set of twin brothers were also) and none of my nieces or nephews have arthritis, either.

It does make me notice how much guilt we have as mothers, though. If anyone can find blame in a study, mother's can! Did we breast feed enough? Or not enough? Or hold them enough? Or stimulate them, or encourage them to walk when they weren't ready? Or... well, you get the point.

All I can ask for is to be good enough. We're doing the best we can. And give ourselves a pat on the back!

Mom to Owen

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Two sets of twins at almost 8 lbs. each !?!! God bless your mom!! You sure have big babies in your family! Your right - classic Mother Guilt at work here. I think you're right - we need deal with the here and now. We can't go back and change things, just do the best we can. Michele

-----Original Message-----From: [mailto:jt102493@...] Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2003 10:06 PM Subject: Re: RE: Rheumatoid Arthritis Tied to Birth Weight

Owen was born at 10 lbs and was nursed for 2 1/2 years and my husband is a construction foreman! The only thing that matches is his birth weight and honestly, of the 10 children in my family, we were all huge babies and none of us has arthritis. (My twin brother and I were almost 8 lbs each! And my younger set of twin brothers were also) and none of my nieces or nephews have arthritis, either.

It does make me notice how much guilt we have as mothers, though. If anyone can find blame in a study, mother's can! Did we breast feed enough? Or not enough? Or hold them enough? Or stimulate them, or encourage them to walk when they weren't ready? Or... well, you get the point.

All I can ask for is to be good enough. We're doing the best we can. And give ourselves a pat on the back!

Mom to Owen

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-Not fitting here either, Nick was 6lb 12 oz and was the only one I

DID breastfed. Hes also my sickest with asthma as well as the JRA.

I did the breastfeeding because of chronic ear problems in my other

kids and was told breastmilk would " make him healthier "

Well, at least hes got good ears!!!!!

Hugs Helen, Nick (5 systemic)

-- In , " Tepper, Michele " <MTepper@f...>

wrote:

> Two sets of twins at almost 8 lbs. each !?!! God bless your

mom!! You

> sure have big babies in your family! Your right - classic Mother

Guilt

> at work here. I think you're right - we need deal with the here

and now.

> We can't go back and change things, just do the best we can.

Michele

>

> Re: RE: Rheumatoid Arthritis Tied to Birth

Weight

>

>

>

> Owen was born at 10 lbs and was nursed for 2 1/2 years and my

husband is

> a construction foreman! The only thing that matches is his birth

weight

> and honestly, of the 10 children in my family, we were all huge

babies

> and none of us has arthritis. (My twin brother and I were almost

8 lbs

> each! And my younger set of twin brothers were also) and none of

my

> nieces or nephews have arthritis, either.

>

> It does make me notice how much guilt we have as mothers, though.

If

> anyone can find blame in a study, mother's can! Did we breast feed

> enough? Or not enough? Or hold them enough? Or stimulate them,

or

> encourage them to walk when they weren't ready? Or... well, you

get the

> point.

>

> All I can ask for is to be good enough. We're doing the best we

can.

> And give ourselves a pat on the back!

>

>

> Mom to Owen

>

>

>

> ____________________________________________________

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> IncrediMail - Email has finally evolved - Click Here

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