· Rheumatoid Arthritis 3-4 times more frequent in women
· One in four Indians suffers from Osteoarthritis
Mumbai, November 04, 2016 (GPN) : SRL Diagnostics, a leading diagnostic chain in India, released a 3-year data analysis report on Arthritis related tests done on samples received in its labs from across India. According to the report, the 10,000 odd samples tested showed varying degrees of abnormalities in the blood levels of direct and indirect markers of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout and rheumatic fever. The results varied across four zones of India as well. While Western zone of India showed more abnormalities in the levels of rheumatoid factor- a marker of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Uric acid abnormalities were more common in South zone. Uric acid is a commonly prescribed marker of gout. Data analysed also showed that the East Zone had highest percent of abnormal anti-streptolysin O level- a marker of rheumatic fever and joint disease.
The analysis also found that markers of chronic inflammation-a bodily event that goes on continuously in any chronic joint disease, ESR and CRP were raised in most of the samples than any other marker. This is probably due to the fact that Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis affecting the population at large.
Furthermore, data showed that abnormal C-Reactive protein (CRP) values were more commonly found in men, while abnormal Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) values were seen more commonly in women.
Dr. Leena Chatterjee, Director Operations SRL Labs & Strategic Initiatives, said, “Bone and joint health are crucial aspects, which are usually ignored by the population at large. Millions in Indiasuffer from bone and joint disorders, but doctor visits for management or laboratory visits for regular check-up and testing remain low. Medical studies have shown that 15-17 per cent of Indian population suffer from some kind of joint disease with Osteoarthritis being on the top. Actually bone and joint disorder is more common than cardiovascular disease and cancer combined. Our 3 year data analysis tries to reiterate this point and also shows that blood based tests can help screen large number of people for common joint diseases.””
