Somatotypological Characteristics of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Dependence on the Age of the Patient, Age, when the Disease began and its Duration

Introduction. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease, the occurrence of which affects a lot of factors, especially genetic, endocrine and environmental (socio-economic). A promising approach to assessing the genetic predisposition to multiple diseases is the study of somatotypologic status of patients. There are reports of the dependence of predisposition to the occurrence of cardiovascular lesions and some diseases of the endocrine system from the structure of the soma. Aim. To find out the peculiarities of somatotypologic indices of RA patients and their dependence on the age of patients, the age at which the disease began and its duration. Materials and methods. The study involved 54 patients with RA in which the somatotypological features were estimated together with their dependence on the age at the time of examination, age, when the rheumatoid arthritis appeared and the disease duration. As a control, 30 healthy individuals were examined. Patients of the experimental group and control one were representative by age, body weight, height, and immitance. To determine the somatotypes, the mathematical scheme of B. Heath and J. Carter was used. The somatotype was determined by an estimate consisting of three consecutive numbers. Each number (score) is an estimate of one of the three primary components of the constitution, which indicates the individual variations in the form and composition of the human body. The first component – endomorphic – characterizes the degree of development of adipose tissue, the second component – mesomorphic – determines the relative development of muscles and bone elements of the body, the third component – ectomorphic – determines the relative elongation of the human body and is a connecting state between the endomorphic and mesomorphic characteristics of the constitution. Results. It was found that patients with the RA are characterized by the distinct endomorphy – the endomorphic somatotype items (endomorphic, endo-mesomorphic) were detected in 85.0 % of patients, while among patients of the control group there were only 30.0 % of such. Those of the control group were characterized by more distinct mesomorphy – mesomorphic somatotype items (meso-, ecto- and endo-mesomorphic) were registered in 70.1 % of patients. Somatotypological distribution analysis of the surveyed patients with RA depending on the age at the time of examination, the age in which the RA appeared and its duration did not show significant differences between the compared groups. Conclusions. Patients with RA are characterized by a more pronounced endomorphism, independent of the age at which the RA started and its duration.