Although it seems intuitively clear that weight-bearing joints are affected by obesity, in reality, only the knees are significantly affected. Epidemiologic studies have shown that osteoarthritis of the hand is also increased in the context of obesity, a finding that has led researchers to hypothesize a circulating factor as a causative agent. Because increased body fat can result in increased conversion of precursor hormones to active estrogen compounds, an estrogen-like compound is a possible causative agent for osteoarthritis in obese patients.
