Inflammatory joint disease includes arthritis and spondyloarthritis (formerly called Becherew’s disease).
About one percent of Norway’s population is affected, and approximately 40 percent of these are men, writes the University of Bergen in a press release.
Large study group
Arthritis causes swollen, painful and stiff joints, while spondyloarthritis affects joints in the pelvis and back.
It has previously been known that women with arthritis have fewer children than those without arthritis. Therefore, Gudrun David Sigmo and her research team at Stavanger University Hospital decided to investigate whether this is also the case for men.
READ ALSO: Men are not good enough for more and more women
– It is quite a large part of a larger study, but we have looked at men with inflammatory diseases and mapped how many children they have. We often get questions from men with these diseases about the possibilities of having children. There is not much research in the area, but we know that women have fewer children than the general population, says Sigmo to Nettavisen.
I studies the researchers used data from three different registers in Norway: the NorArtritt register, which collects data on patients with chronic arthritis diseases in Norway, the Medical Birth Register and the Folkeregisteret.
They thus had access to data from nearly 11,000 men with arthritis, and five times as many controls (men without rheumatic disease).
Speculating in several reasons
And the findings surprised the researchers: The study shows that men with arthritis on average have more children than those without the chronic condition.
– We surprisingly find that they have more children. It’s good news, and it’s fun. It really only triggers questions than we had.
For the time being, the researchers cannot determine exactly what is the cause of the findings.
READ ALSO: This pill should give you a longer and healthier life: – Effect after one week
Among other things, they speculate whether there may be an underlying cause that is linked to both the diseases and increased fertility. Social conditions can also play a role.
But the clinicians believe that the study is enough to reassure male patients:
– Male patients with rheumatic joint disease do not need to fear that the disorder reduces their chances of becoming fathers, Sigmo concludes.
2024-02-23 15:59:45
#Men #arthritis #children #surprises #Norwegian #researcher
