A leading orthopaedic surgeon at Skagit Regional Clinics in Mount Vernon, Dr. Ryan C. Koonce, stated that the systemic component of the link appears to be significant.
Dr. Koonce and his colleagues have found that, unsurprisingly, the greater load and weight that a person is carrying, the more significant the arthritis. This is because a heavier ‘load’ can cause wear and tear on the joints, and can cause white adipose tissue or other tissues that cause inflammation, and this then causes the crippling pain of arthritis.
In addition to this, obesity also causes other issues with wellness, such as hypertension, metabolic conditions, insulin resistance and so on, and these conditions are often linked to arthritis, in so much as they are often present at the same time and the presence of the conditions can appear to make the pain of osteoarthritis much more difficult to manage.
Researchers go so far as to suggest that if it were possible to wipe out all cases of obesity, the cases of osteoarthritis in the United States would deplete by more than half, thus making it the most significant risk factor for the debilitating disease. Weight loss can, of course, lead to a variety of other health benefits, and can increase wellbeing by reducing pain in the joints and restoring healthy function of the limbs.
As a result of the study, the scientists involved hope that doctors will become more aware of how serious a factor obesity is in the treatment of osteoarthritis, but also in the prevention. Encouraging people to undertake weight loss programmes before the disease becomes an issue could save them from years of debilitating pain.