A research team from Sweden says that a high body mass index in men may reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, though the same cannot be said for women. Dr. Carl Turesson, a physician with the Department of Rheumatology at Malmö University Hospital in Sweden and an affiliate with the Division of Rheumatology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, MN, said that "it is a general observation that abdominal obesity is seen more often in men." It is the kind of fat development in men with high body mass index (BMI), the researchers suggest, that could be protective against the development of rheumatoid arthritis(RA).
This is because men with high BMI, compared with women, develop more abdominal obesity, or visceral fat. "Abdominal fat produces different types of signal molecules, which may affect the development ofinflammation," Dr. Tuersson told us, adding that this is…
