According to a study published in the RMD Open section of the British Medical Journal, women are more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis if they have four or more children, undergo surgical ovarian and/or uterine excision, or menopause before the age of 45.
After analyzing data from over 2.2 lakh women in the UK, researchers from China discovered that starting to menstruate after the age of 14 and being younger than 33 were also associated with an increased risk of the chronic autoimmune disease that affects joints and is known to affect women more than men.
The Anhui Medical University study found that factors like using oral contraceptive pills and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were also significant. Postmenopausal women with symptoms like hot flashes, decreased muscle mass, and complications like osteoporosis or bone loss can be treated with hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Although the increased susceptibility of women to the disease is known to be influenced by hormonal and reproductive factors, the research team was interested in determining which specific factors were “particularly influential”.
Even though they were unable to establish a cause-and-effect relationship in this observational, albeit long-term, study, they stated that the results suggested the importance of evaluating hormonal and reproductive factors in women diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
The study used information from 2,23,526 women whose health was monitored for an average of 12 years by the UK Biobank. Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, was found to strike 1.5% (3,313) of these women.
By using statistical tools, the researchers discovered that going through menopause before the age of 45 was linked to a 46% higher chance of having the chronic condition than going through menopause at or after the age of 50.
Furthermore, the team discovered that a heightened risk of 39% was associated with fewer than 33 reproductive years, which is defined as the time between the onset of menopause and the first period.
Though few women in the study group underwent these procedures, the researchers found that surgical removal of reproductive organs such as the uterus (hysterectomy) and one or more ovaries (oophorectomy) was associated with 40 and 21 percent increased risks of RA.
Additionally, the team discovered that having four or more children and receiving the first period after turning 14 instead of 13 were linked to an increased risk of 17 and 18%, respectively, of developing the autoimmune condition.
“The findings of this study are significant and form a basis on which novel and target-specific intervention measures to curb the risk of (rheumatoid arthritis) in women may be developed,” they wrote.
Future studies should investigate how female hormones are involved in the development of RA, they said.
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