Weight Loss and Knee Arthritis

Adapted from Medscape - January 27, 2012

Knee arthritis is one of the most common and disabling types of joint pain, and it's more common in women. Orthopaedists say knee problems were to blame for more than 14 million visits to the doctor in 2008 (U.S.) A recently published study in the Annals of Internal Medicine used a computer simulation model looking at quality of life for people aged 50 to 84 years. The model was based on the assumption that 40 percent of Americans in this age group are either obese or have arthritis, or have both conditions. What they found was that having both obesity and knee arthritis lowered one's quality of life by 25 per cent. The computer simulation model also found that losing weight to historical body weights of 10 years ago would stave off hundreds of thousands of knee replacements, not to mention such diseases such as diabetes and coronary artery disease.

A recent study further reinforces the value of doing just that (losing weight). This study, published in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, looked at 11 obese patients. One third of them already had knee arthritis. Knee cartilage thickness was assessed using a special MRI technique, and it was assessed with the same technique 1 year later. Patients either had laparoscopic gastric banding or participated in a supervised diet and exercise weight loss program. The researchers found that losing weight helped preserve knees. Weight loss led to improvement in both the quality and quantity of knee cartilage. On average, patients lost 9 to 10 lb, the more weight lost, the greater the increase in knee cartilage thickness.

I liked these two studies simply because one found improved quality of life, and the other showed that even a small amount of weight loss can preserve or improve knee cartilage.

Dr. Doug