Arthritis, Ethnicity, and Women - By: Dan Brathers

It has been noted that Native American, non-white Hispanic, and older African-American women have a higher rate of developing arthritis than others.

The large percentages of obesity among these ethnic groups are helping to explain the reasons behind these findings.

Less than 150,000 women participated in a study concerning their health. Among the population, nearly 45 percent were suffering from osteoarthritis.

These women were less active, older, and were poorer and heavier than the rest.

As it was expected, the women that were in their 70s had a higher risk of developing osteoarthritis compared to women that were in their 50s. Women who were in their 60s were in between this margin.

The observers found that there was an increased risk for osteoarthritis among Native American and African American women when compared to white women and Asian women.

The chances for developing this disease were greatly common for Native Americans, Hispanics, and Blacks. There were nearly 60 percent of African Americans that were obese, compared to over 50 percent of American Indian women, over 40 percent were Hispanic women, and about 33 percent of white women.

The lack of physical activity amongst the ethnic groups remained the same; over 30 percent of the black women were inactive, meaning that they had the lowest ethnic group for physical activity. Less than 20 percent of the white women reported physical inactivity.

The prevalence of osteoarthritis for the youngest women that were in the study also showed differing levels among the ethnicities. Nearly 40 percent of the Hispanic women in their 50s reported having arthritis, 37 percent of Native Americans, about 34 percent of black women, about 26 percent of Asians, and nearly 23 percent of whites.

The investigators believe that the excessive amount of weight can produce arthritis in a couple of ways: the amount of weight can create an increased level of stress on the joints, and could increase the amount of bone mineral density. This can create bone stiffness and add to the breakdown of cartilage.

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