Obesity and Knee Pain

One of the major causes of disability worldwide is Osteoarthritis (OA). Growing prevalence suggests that 130 million people may be affected by the year 2020. According to researchers, obesity is a primary risk factor in the development of OA. Unfortunately, the treatment of osteoarthritis is only limited to pain management.

If being obese can cause arthritis, then can weight loss help in the treatment? According to a study by Riddle and Stratford conducted in 2013, people who experienced weight loss had increased mobility and quality of life.
Based on such numerous evidences in clinical guidelines, weight loss is recommended for the treatment. Well then, carrying those extra pounds can cause more burden on the knees. Not to forget, it also does have an impact on various mechanisms that tend to cause arthritis.

The Relationship Between Knee Arthritis and Obesity

Knee arthritis and obesity are closely connected. For every pound of weight gain, your knees gain three pounds of added stress. Yes, being overweight is directly proportional to the joint burden. But there are also many ways they are not related.

For example, a person who is overweight is ought to put more stress on his joints which are responsible for bearing the majority of his body weight. However, what is not obvious, is the way our body reacts to the extra weight chemically. For example, leptin is a hormone that tells us to stop eating when we are full. But, if we ignore this signal and continue eating, leptin production in our body will increase trying to tell us to stop eating. Now, the fact is that increased levels of leptin are associated with knee OA as people with the same are found to have more leptin levels in their joints. Yikes!
The outcome? The more you disrespect your body’s leptin, the more saddened your knees will be! So, it is sensible that losing weight may slow the arthritis progression and chemically speaking, having a controlled diet is a key!

A study confirms: Weight Loss can save your knees!

A study that worked on a 96-month data, confirmed that weight loss may slow knee cartilage degeneration. The knee cartilage of overweight participants who lost weight as compared to the knee cartilage in normal-weight participants. All the participants either had mild to moderate knee OA or the risk factors for it. The overweight participants who showed weight loss were classified based on their activity of weight loss: diet only, exercise, or exercise and diet.

Eager to know the results?

The overweight batch that lost weight had a slower progression of knee arthritis or less loss of cartilage over time as compared to the normal weight batch. Whereas, in the case of the activity type weight loss group, the diet-and-exercise and the diet-only groups to the exercise-only group, who did not.

This concludes the fact that a lifestyle focussed on a controlled diet can be a stimulant to weight loss in addition to not ignoring the leptin signals!

Not to Forget: Exercise

Weight loss in obese people can slow cartilage degeneration, in turn, slower the knee arthritis progression. But can weight loss reverse it? If you combine the weight loss strategy with exercise, whether it results in slowing the cartilage degeneration or not, it will provide you benefits.

• Many studies have shown that exercise significantly decreases knee arthritic pain and also increase muscle strength.
• Exercise stabilises the knee by decreasing bone spur formation and degeneration of knee cartilage, thus improving muscles in arthritis conditions.
• Exercise provides relief from joint stiffness and improves range of motion.

Exercise not only improves knee health but also contributes to benefit the entire body. To conclude, having a healthy diet, respecting leptin signals and exercising regularly, you not only save your knees but also improving your overall health.

IndiCure is one of the largest and most renowned medical tourism companies in India offering the best orthopedic treatment in India in association with the best surgeons and top hospitals in India. You can write to us at [email protected] or call us at +91-9320036777 (India) or +1-8772702448 (US Toll-Free)