A new study has disclosed a link between high birth weight and rheumatoid arthritis.

According to the study, people weighing 10 pounds or more are twice as likely to have rheumatoid arthritis later in life as compared to their average birthweight peers.

Findings from various small-level studies hinted at links between high birth-weight and rheumatoid arthritis plus other autoimmune diseases, Dr. Lisa Mandl, at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, and her co-workers reported online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

To study in deep, MandI and her group examined data from the Nurses’ Health Study that included more than 87,000 women aged between 30 and 55 at the beginning of the study in 1976. Around 619 subjects were subsequently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

The chances of being diagnosed with the disease doubled in women born weighing more than 10 pounds, compared with those born weighing 7 to 8.5 pounds, considered the average birth weight.

MandI and her colleagues suggested, “If fetal nutrition has an impact on future risk of rheumatoid arthritis, this could be a potentially modifiable risk factor.”

They further added, “provide further evidence for the importance of fetal environment as a crucible for future adult diseases.”

Rheumatoid is a complex autoimmune condition where the sufferer’s immune system targets tissue in the joints. This disease is not curable. But more research and information needs to be gathered to make sure the main cause of rheumatoid arthritis.