New Delhi: The new obesity guidelines, which emphasize weight management and BMI thresholds for identifying obesity-related disorders, may inadvertently delay the diagnosis of arthritis by excluding the early symptoms of arthritis in overweight and obese individuals. According to the new rules, doctors might focus more on treating weight before thoroughly evaluating other possible illnesses. Since obesity is a known risk factor for joint stress and inflammation, symptoms like joint pain, stiffness, or swelling may be attributed to it alone rather than being treated as a separate diagnosis of arthritis.

In an interaction with News9Live, Dr. Shrey Kumar Srivastav, senior consultant, at Sharda Hospital, said, “By possibly ignoring the early symptoms of arthritis in overweight and obese people, the new obesity guidelines, which place a greater emphasis on weight management........

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