Article

Runners' Relief: Knee OA "Risk" Dispelled

(VIDEO) A Baylor rheumatologist has comforting news about osteoarthritis for your patients who are (or used to be) joggers.

Among the hordes of aging Baby Boomers are many who run regularly (or used to, until their knees began to hurt). Has all that pavement pounding increased their risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA)?

A large new study based on members of the general population offers up a definitive answer. Watch here as rheumatologist Grace Lo MD of Baylor College of Medicine briefly tells about the study and what it may mean for your patients.

The questions:

•   Can you tell us how your study is different from what we knew before about running and osteoarthritis?

•   This is yet another study from the Osteoarthritis Initiative, right, and so these tend to be general everyday folks who do or do not get OA?

•   Tell us what you found, please.

•   And how does this compare with what's been found before?

•   What do you think are the implications?

•   What about the patients that doctors already have, who have OA, who used to be runners?

•    You didn't mention the BMI aspect of all this, which also would tell the previous runner something ...

Key quotes:

It looks like runners have less knee pain, they have less radiographic OA, and they have less symptomatic radiographic OA, compared with the non-runner.

People who have a low BMI are less likely to develop OA. So running probably helps you.

References:

1. Lo GH, Driban JB, Kriska K et al. Habitual Running Any Time in Life Is Not Detrimental and May be Protective of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. ACR Abstract #2895. Arthritis & Rheumatism. 2014;66(1)-Supplement

2  Driban JB, Lo GH, Price LL et al.Knee Pain and a Prior Injury Are Associated with Increased Risk of a New Knee Injury: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. ACR Abstract #1281. Arthritis & Rheumatism. 2014;66(1)-Supplement

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