Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and this degenerative joint disease found mostly among older people, primarily affects cartilage.  A study conducted by an international team supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has discovered that shorter people are more prone to arthritis. The common variants we identified are associated with both short stature and, as described previously, increased risk of osteoarthritis.

In the study, the effects of more than 2 million genetic variants were initially examined. The variants detected can precisely point to the region of the genome involved, but may not themselves directly influence the trait. According to the researchers a variety of factors that include genetics, prenatal environment and diet, work in coherence to determine how tall someone grows. Currently it sis believed that genetic factors are responsible for at least 80pct of the variation in height among people.