Framingham Study: Common Foot Disorders Inherited

Those 4-inch heels may not be to blame for your foot problems, it could be genetics instead.

The Framingham Foot Study, which looked at 1,370 adults, found strong family histories of conditions like bunions could be a genetic predisposition.

While podiatrists believe that shoes can worsen symptoms that come with painful foot issues, it is a myth that shoes alone are to blame, reported ScienceWorld.com.

The study, carried out between 2002 and 2008, looked at people who had foot complaints, including bunions and hammer and claw toes and then looked at the incidence of the same conditions in close family members.

The study was led by Arthritis Care & Research Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Marian Hannan from Hebrew SeniorLife and Harvard Medical School in Boston. Participants had a mean age of 66 years and 57 percent were female.

The researchers used software that performs genetic analyses to estimate the heritability of what they found in the foot exams, according to RunnersWorld.com

"It is something a person will have a predisposition to-but poor footwear will exacerbate it," according to Dr Marian Hannan, the leader of the study.

The researchers suggest this could be due to inheriting a particular shape of foot which predisposes a person to developing the condition.

These new findings highlight the importance of furthering our understanding of what causes greater susceptibility to these foot conditions, as knowing more about the pathway may ultimately lead to early prevention or early treatment."

"Our study is the largest investigation of the heritability of common foot disorders in older adults, confirming that bunions and lesser toe deformities are highly inheritable in Caucasian men and women of European descent," said Dr. Hannan. "These new findings highlight the importance of furthering our understanding of what causes greater susceptibility to these foot conditions, as knowing more about the pathway may ultimately lead to early prevention or early treatment."

Foot disorders affect approximately 20-60 percent of Americans and are increasingly linked to chronic mobility limitations and disability.

The Framingham Foot Study, an ancillary study of the Framingham Heart Study, is an observational cohort study of adults to examine the role of foot disorders upon functional limitations and disability. This cohort was comprised of members from the Framingham Study original cohort and the Framingham offspring cohort.