Prolonged repetitive physical workload increases risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-06/elar-prp061016.php

Public Release: 10-Jun-2016
Prolonged repetitive physical workload increases risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis
New insights into which patients are genetically more susceptible
European League Against Rheumatism

The results of a study presented today at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2016) showed that prolonged repetitive physical workload increases the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although work-related physical activity over many years is known to cause many cases of osteoarthritis (OA) in selected joints, this is the first study to show a link between physical workload and RA.

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"We found that some types of physical workload increased the odds of developing RA more than others," said Miss Pingling Zeng of the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. "There also appeared to be a significant interaction between genetic makeup, in terms of HLA-DRB1 genes, and the risk of ACPA-positive RA from specific types of physical workload."

The estimated odds ratio of developing RA in exposed vs. unexposed subjects was greater than or equal to 1.5, with several repetitive types of manual work that would be common, for example, in the building trade: exposure to repeated vibration (1.5), carrying or lifting weights greater than 10kg (1.5), bending/turning (1.6), and working with hands either below knee level (1.7), or above shoulder level (1.8).

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