Lifestyle Factors May Influence Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis

At alive, we stress the importance of living a healthy lifestyle that includes proper nutrition, regular physical activity, and the absence of smoking. The objective is to play to our body’s strengths before the onset of health issues. New research suggests that lifestyle factors may have an impact on the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that affects about 0.8 percent of the population.

Lifestyle matters

A research group at the Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology looked at a sample of more than 25,000 people, aged 40 to 79, who had been followed for a number of years. From the sample, researchers looked at the lifestyle factors of 184 participants who developed arthritis and compared them to those who didn’t. Researchers found that smoking, obesity, and diabetes were factors that increased the risk of developing arthritis. Researchers also identified certain gender-specific factors. Women who had more than two children and breastfed for a shorter amount of time also had a higher risk.

Conversely, belonging to a higher social class and drinking a small amount of alcohol each day were associated with a reduced risk of developing the disease.

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