Bad News and (Bad Knees) for Ex-JocksMen with knee injuries have nine times the risk of knee osteoarthritisWeekend warriors and ex-jocks, beware! That knee you injured catching the game-winning touchdown or water-skiing at Cypress Gardens could come back to haunt you in later years. Serious knee injuries make older adults seven times more likely to develop osteoarthritis at that joint than adults who have never had a knee injury. The risk is higher for men, who are nine times more likely to have knee osteoarthritis if they’ve been injured there, according to a study by a Clearwater research institute that had more than 1,400 subjects older than 40. “Even after considering age, gender, weight and activity level, we found that old injuries to your knees increase the risk of developing osteoarthritis at that same site,” said Frances Vaughn Wilder, PhD, one of the study’s authors and the executive director of the Arthritis Research Institute of America (ARIA). “People with severe knee injuries should be aware of the risks years after their injuries have healed.” Osteoarthritis, which is the “wear and tear” form of arthritis, affects 27 million Americans after the age of 50. The study that correlates knee injuries and knee osteoarthritis was published in the international journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage by ARIA, which has been studying osteoarthritis since 1988. With Dr. Wilder, the paper’s co-authors were Betty J. Hall, RN, John P. Barrett, MD and Nancy Lemrow, MA. Since 1988, the Arthritis Research Institute of America (ARIA) has been studying thousands of participants to learn more about osteoarthritis. The 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit research organization is based in Clearwater but its findings have been published worldwide. ARIA’s x-ray database is globally acknowledged as one of the most complete sources of information about the progression of osteoarthritis. For information, call (727) 461-4054 or go to www.preventarthritis.org.
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