Swedish researchers report in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases that there is an increase in the risk of developing arthritis in early adulthood if a child has a serious infection during the first year of his or her life.
They studied data from national registers on more than 3,500 people born between 1973 and 2002.
The results of the analysis demonstrated that being born early, small, or underweight was associated with a lower likelihood of developing rheumatoid arthritis as a young adult. Having more than three siblings and being large for gestational age were traits linked to a higher probability of rheumatoid arthritis, but these relationships were not statistically significant.
The researchers found that the most significant predictor of arthritis was a hospital stay due to an infection during the first year of life.
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Article written by: Peter M Crosta
Copyright: Medical News Today
[Source: Medical News Today]
