Losing Weight Helps to Reduce Risks and Severity of Osteoarthritis
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Posted on Oct 28, 2009, 6 a.m.
In that overweight is a major risk factor for the development and progression of knee osteoarthritis, researchers find that weight loss not only reduces the risks of disease onset, but lessens the symptoms in those who develop it as well.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, causing pain, swelling and reduced motion in the joints. Being overweight has been linked to this degenerative joint disease. Lauren M. Abbate, from The University of North Carolina (USA), and colleagues studied data collected during an eight-year period on 1,480 men and women living in North Carolina, tracking their weight change and onset of knee osteoarthritis during the study period. The team found that the study participants who lost weight were at nearly 30% lower risk of developing knee osteoarthritis. In a separate study, Danuta I. Bujak, from University of Maryland School of Medicine (USA), and colleagues studied data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative that included 1388 cases of knee osteoarthritis, finding that patients already diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis who lost weight consequently improved both physical function and walking speed.
Lauren M. Abbate, June Stevens, Todd A. Schwartz, Leigh F. Callahan, Jordan B. Renner, Charles G. Helmick, Joanne M. Jordan. “ The Relationship Between Weight Maintenance and Incident Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis: The Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project” (Abstract 629), presented at the 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, October 18, 2009. Danuta I. Bujak, Knachelle Favors, John D. Sorkin, Marc C. Hochberg. “Relationship of Weight and Weight Change with Knee Pain and Function in Persons with Symptomatic Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis: Two-Year Data From the Osteoarthritis Initiative” (Abstract 556), presented at the 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, October 18, 2009.
