A severe inflammatory disease that affects the joints, rheumatoid arthritis affects around 200,000 people in France, or 0.3% of the national population.
Women are, on average, 2 to 3 times more affected than men: although the disease generally begins with painful stiffening of certain joints (wrists, hands, fingers), it progresses in the form of “flare-ups” up to ” the appearance of joint deformities and tendon destruction.
According to a new American study published in the specialized journal Arthritis Care & Research, patients who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis as well as overweight (or obesity) are less likely than others to experience a period of remission.
Less effective treatments for overweight or obesity
To reach this conclusion, the researchers followed 982 patients for 3 years: among these, 32% had a “normal” body mass index (between 18.5 and 25), 35% were overweight (BMI between 25 and 30) and 33% suffered from obesity (BMI over 30).
Results ? By the end of the observation period, 36% of patients had achieved prolonged remission. In contrast, patients suffering from overweight had, on average, 25% less chance of achieving this goal, and this statistic even rose to 47% in patients with obesity.
“This work has enabled us to observe that current treatments against rheumatoid arthritis are probably less effective in overweight or obese people” conclude the American researchers.
As a reminder, in France, 41% of men and 25.3% of women are overweight. Obesity, for its part, concerns 15.8% of French people and 15.6% of French women.
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