BU study: A quarter of arthritis cases linked to excess weight

The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) on adults 40-69 years old, to categorize individuals based on the changes in their body mass indices (BMI) from early adulthood to mid-life, and analyzed the association between these BMI trajectories and the risk of developing an arthritis condition within 10 years.

Of the 13,669 people in the study, 3,603 developed an arthritis condition. Compared with those who had a BMI in the "normal" range in both early adulthood and middle age, those who went from the "normal" range to the "overweight" or "obese" ranges, those who went from the "overweight" range to the "obese" range, and those whose BMIs were in the "obese" range at both points were all significantly more likely to develop arthritis conditions.

On the other hand, those whose BMIs went from the "obese" down to the "overweight" range had a significantly lower risk of developing arthritis compared to those whose BMI remained in the "obese" range. Additionally, those who lost weight had the same likelihood of developing arthritis as those whose BMIs stayed in the "overweight" range.

"These findings highlight the need for lifelong public health measures to prevent obesity at younger ages as an important step to curb later life musculoskeletal and joint health problems such as osteoarthritis. This is particularly important as musculoskeletal pain is a leading cause of disability globally," says study co-author Dr. Tuhina Neogi, professor of epidemiology at BUSPH, professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, and chief of rheumatology at Boston Medical Center.