Risk Factors for Knee Osteoarthritis
An article published in a recent Journal1 listed, in order, the main risk factors for knee osteoarthritis. The article's authors had gone through extensive scientific literature and came up with the following:
Don't Panic!
Before you start getting worried that you are ticking a few too many of those boxes, please be clear that a 'Risk Factor' does not necessarily mean a 'cause' of osteoarthritis. The media nowadays seem to get a little too confused between "associations with" and "causes of" various ailments. For example, it is accepted that smoking can be a "cause of" lung cancer, however, having yellow fingers is certainly "associated with" cases of lung cancer but would never been seen as a "cause of" lung cancer.
So, to apply the above with the table of risk factors, we can safely say that you are more likely to suffer from arthritis of the knee if you are older, but that getting older is not a cause of knee arthritis. The same can be said for all of the risk factors listed in the table.
Should I be Concerned?
Clearly, there are some risk factors that you really will struggle to change; advancing age or female gender being the two most obvious, so there really is nothing to worry about if you are in 2-3 of the categories.
It might be that you are in several of the categories but your knees feel fine, or you may only be in one but you have already been diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee. Whatever you can do to improve the overall health of your knee will help to prevent, delay the onset or, at the very least, slow the worsening of osteoarthritis.
What can I do?
Exercise and a healthy diet are effective ways to ensure that you give your knee the best chance of remaining pain free. However, if you already experience knee pain you may be thinking that exercise is not possible. This is where the Active650 Knee Support can help out.
The form-fit technology means the support provides comfort to all areas of the knee, warming the area and reducing the stresses and irritations that act on the joint as you move. By cradling and cushioning the knee and surrounding tissues, the Active650 Knee Support provides the comfort and support that you need, when you need it. With no bulky straps or restrictive material, it allows full movement of the joint and ensures that you can still exercise, strengthen and rehabilitate the muscles.
So now you can keep active and keep osteoarthritis of the knee under control.
1. El-Tawil S, Arendt E, Parker D: Position statement: the epidemiology, pathogenesis and risk factors of osteoarthritis of the knee. Journal of ISAKOS 2016 1(6).
