{"id":42007,"date":"2023-06-30T18:13:44","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T22:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/?p=42007"},"modified":"2023-06-30T18:13:45","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T22:13:45","slug":"allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/","title":{"rendered":"Could allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most prevalent form of arthritis, affects a staggering 240 million individuals globally, with 32.5 million adults<\/a> in the U.S. alone. This degenerative joint disease primarily afflicts older adults, with most cases found in patients aged 45 years and above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OA occurs when bone and cartilage gradually degrade over time. Unlike other systemic variants of arthritis, OA is restricted to the joints. Experts commonly associate it with “wear and tear” on the joints. This suggests that individuals with careers or lifestyles involving heightened physical activity could be at a higher risk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, inflammatory responses can exacerbate the damage, intensifying symptoms. Risk factors such as obesity<\/a>, diabetes<\/a>, and high cholesterol<\/a> also play a role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis joint. BruceBlaus via Wikipedia<\/a>. CC-Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Patients typically notice OA in the knees, hips, and small joints of the hands, but it can progress to other areas over time. Initial symptoms include joint pain and stiffness. Later, it can also lead to joint swelling, reduced mobility, and muscle weakness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post may interest those with a higher polygenic risk score for osteoarthritis<\/a>.<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since there’s no way to cure or slow OA’s progression, treatment focuses primarily on symptom management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One potential contributor to the worsening of OA is systemic inflammation, which includes allergic reactions. A recently published paper in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases<\/em><\/a> delved into the possible association between OA and allergic conditions such as asthma<\/a> and atopic dermatitis (eczema)<\/a>. In short, the researchers discovered that individuals with allergic diseases have a greater chance of developing OA. Their work lays the groundwork for potential OA treatments targeting the same biological pathways as allergy medication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Study<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The researchers reviewed insurance claims data (2003-2019) and electronic health records (2010-2020). The substantial datasets contained over 1 million and 100,000 people, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study identified the “exposed” group as patients diagnosed with either asthma or eczema and the “non-exposed” group as those with no such diagnosis. Both groups had a mean age of around 50, with the exposed group comprising 60% females, compared to 48% in the non-exposed group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis assessed which group had a higher risk of developing OA, gauged by a physician’s appointment coding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The data showed a 58% elevated risk of developing OA in the exposed group within the insurance claims dataset and a 42% increase within the electronic health records dataset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, when the team conducted a statistical analysis to control for multiple variables such as age, gender, education level, etc., they found a 115% elevated risk of developing OA in those with asthma and eczema in the insurance claims dataset. Despite being less pronounced in electronic health records, the trend was consistent. The researchers suggest that this correlation supports the hypothesis that allergic pathways contribute to OA’s onset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Allergies\"
Allergies. Cenczi via Pixabay<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The study’s main limitation lies in its retrospective design, relying on previously collected data. Although the authors used statistical tools to minimize confounding variables, the authors concede that there might still be overlooked factors. Furthermore, the data could be skewed as other diseases might influence a patient’s frequency and reasons for doctor visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team also highlighted the absence of information on BMI, joint trauma, or physical activity, potential variables, in the insurance claims dataset. Although the smaller electronic health records dataset attempted to account for these factors, the association became weaker when they included BMI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In summary, the authors demonstrate that patients with atopic disease seem to have a greater risk of developing osteoarthritis than the general population. These results suggest that non-allergy patients may benefit from the same medication if the same biological pathways are responsible for both diseases. This result could impact OA treatment since current therapies only treat the symptoms, not the biological cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding your genetics can help you identify allergy and arthritis risks. If you haven\u2019t ordered a Whole Genome Sequence test, or want to order one for someone you care about, click here for our lowest price ever.<\/strong><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Citation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Baker MC, Sheth K, Lu R, Lu D, von Kaeppler EP, Bhat A, Felson DT, Robinson WH. Increased risk of osteoarthritis in patients with atopic disease. Ann Rheum Dis. 2023 Jun;82(6):866-872. doi: 10.1136\/ard-2022-223640. Epub 2023 Mar 27. PMID: 36987654.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most prevalent form of arthritis, affects a staggering 240 million individuals globally, with 32.5 million adults in the U.S. alone. This degenerative joint disease primarily afflicts older adults, with most cases found in patients aged 45 years …<\/p>\n

Could allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?<\/span> Read More \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":42025,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Knee osteoarthritis. Shutterstock.","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2350],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"yoast_head":"\nCould allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Osteoarthritis is associated with pain caused by wear and tear on the joints. Scientists suggest that allergic reactions may play a role.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Could allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Osteoarthritis is associated with pain caused by wear and tear on the joints. Scientists suggest that allergic reactions may play a role.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nebula Genomics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/nebulagenomics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-30T22:13:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-30T22:13:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/knee-osteoarthritis.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"665\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christina Swords, Ph.D.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nebulagenomics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nebulagenomics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christina Swords, Ph.D.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Christina Swords, Ph.D.\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/97db973a52b62c2cb68bcf104374a772\"},\"headline\":\"Could allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-30T22:13:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-30T22:13:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/\"},\"wordCount\":701,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/\",\"name\":\"Could allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-30T22:13:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-30T22:13:45+00:00\",\"description\":\"Osteoarthritis is associated with pain caused by wear and tear on the joints. Scientists suggest that allergic reactions may play a role.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Could allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Nebula Genomics Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Nebula Genomics\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"Nebula Genomics\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/nebulagenomics\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nebulagenomics\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nebulagenomics\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/nebula-genomics\/\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nebula_Genomics\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/97db973a52b62c2cb68bcf104374a772\",\"name\":\"Christina Swords, Ph.D.\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/marvin_head_shot_-_christina_marvin-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/marvin_head_shot_-_christina_marvin-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Christina Swords, Ph.D.\"},\"description\":\"Christina Swords is a Graduate Medical Education Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison. She received a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from King\u2019s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, and a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Christina is an experienced science communicator, writer, and project manager with demonstrated communication experience with Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) science outreach and communication committee. You can contact Christina at info@nebula.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/author\/cswords\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Could allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?","description":"Osteoarthritis is associated with pain caused by wear and tear on the joints. Scientists suggest that allergic reactions may play a role.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Could allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?","og_description":"Osteoarthritis is associated with pain caused by wear and tear on the joints. Scientists suggest that allergic reactions may play a role.","og_url":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/","og_site_name":"Nebula Genomics Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/nebulagenomics","article_published_time":"2023-06-30T22:13:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-30T22:13:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":665,"url":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/knee-osteoarthritis.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Christina Swords, Ph.D.","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@nebulagenomics","twitter_site":"@nebulagenomics","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christina Swords, Ph.D.","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/"},"author":{"name":"Christina Swords, Ph.D.","@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/97db973a52b62c2cb68bcf104374a772"},"headline":"Could allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?","datePublished":"2023-06-30T22:13:44+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-30T22:13:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/"},"wordCount":701,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/","url":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/","name":"Could allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-06-30T22:13:44+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-30T22:13:45+00:00","description":"Osteoarthritis is associated with pain caused by wear and tear on the joints. Scientists suggest that allergic reactions may play a role.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/allergies-indicator-of-osteoarthritis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Could allergies be an indicator of osteoarthritis?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/","name":"Nebula Genomics Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"Nebula Genomics","url":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"Nebula Genomics"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/nebulagenomics","https:\/\/twitter.com\/nebulagenomics","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nebulagenomics\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/nebula-genomics\/","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nebula_Genomics"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/97db973a52b62c2cb68bcf104374a772","name":"Christina Swords, Ph.D.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/marvin_head_shot_-_christina_marvin-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/marvin_head_shot_-_christina_marvin-150x150.jpg","caption":"Christina Swords, Ph.D."},"description":"Christina Swords is a Graduate Medical Education Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison. She received a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from King\u2019s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, and a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Christina is an experienced science communicator, writer, and project manager with demonstrated communication experience with Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) science outreach and communication committee. You can contact Christina at info@nebula.org.","url":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/author\/cswords\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}