Scientists at Stanford University have found that people with asthma or eczema have an increased risk of developing osteoarthritis. The research was published in the journal Annuals of Rheumatic Diseases.
Osteoarthritis is a joint disease that develops in almost all people after the age of 60. However, there is no treatment that can prevent progression. Many patients require joint replacement surgery.
While scientists previously thought that osteoarthritis developed due to cartilage wear, modern research points to the role of the immune system. So, in 2019, biologists discovered that an immune reaction similar to an allergic one develops with osteoarthritis.
In the new study, the researchers focused on asthma and eczema, autoimmune diseases in which the immune system overreacts to harmless molecules.
The study included 110,000 patients without osteoarthritis but diagnosed with asthma or eczema, and patients with osteoarthritis but not asthma or eczema. The authors found that if a patient has asthma or eczema, their risk of developing osteoarthritis increases by 58% over the course of approximately 10 years. If both asthma and eczema were present, the risk increased by 115%.
Current asthma medications may be candidates for osteoarthritis treatment, but more research is needed.