Arthritic knee pain might be relieved by weight loss

A new study proves that people who lose 10% of their body weight can relieve knee pain caused by osteoarthritis. This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “We've had a 162 % increase in knee replacements over the last 20 years in people 65 and over, at a cost of $5 billion a year”, said lead author Stephen Messier. “From our standpoint, we think this would be at least a good way to delay knee replacements and possibly prevent some knee replacements”. “Clearly, the group that lost greater than 10 percent of their weight had significantly less pain, better function, lower joint load and less inflammation”, he said. “When a physician is saying you should lose some weight, 10 percent should be the goal”. Arthritis Foundation spokeswoman Dr. Patience White said the study's findings should be encouraging to overweight people who suffer knee pain. “We're not talking about people getting down to ideal body weight”, said White, the foundation's vice president of public policy and advocacy. “They just have to lose 10 percent of their total weight. Someone who is 300 pounds only needs to lose 30 pounds. I think that's within reach for people”.