OBESITY AND OSTEOARTHRITIS

OBESITY AND OSTEOARTHRITIS: Let’s talk about relationship between obesity and the knee joint damage. In medical terms it is called as knee osteoarthritis . In recent years , knee pains and joint replacement surgery have become very common in much younger age patients as compared to 30 to 40 years ago.

Knee “osteoarthritis” is an extremely painful and debilitating condition ultimately requiring joint replacement. In medical terminology , it is called as TKR or total knee replacement.

Knees are weight-bearing joints of the body. They carry the load of whole body.

OBESITY AND OSTEOARTHRITIS

Normally, there occurs a natural wear and tear in the knee joint because of age. Body repairs it at the same rate but with age the repairing process falls behind the damaging process. This leads to osteoarthritis of the joint. Normally it occurs at a very later stage of life .

But nowadays it is becoming common in young patients . A major cause of it is obesity. In obese patients this process accelerates by many folds because of increased load on the knees causing premature osteoarthritis of the joint.

Every extra kilogram of body weight adds approximately four kilograms of extra pressure on the knee joint during walking. This increased mechanical stress accelerates the wear and tear of the joint over time leading to osteoarthritis requiring knee joint replacements in early age.

https://youtu.be/2qEMurur3Ws?si=-BFv5Kw4UAfxagFp

To find a solution, the problem must first be thoroughly understood.

Remember, I am not against medicines, but they are not always the solution to a disease, nor are they the only remedy.

In addition to what was explained in the previous video, obesity is a major cause of knee osteoarthritis due to the increased load on weight-bearing joints. Another cause, related to excess fat tissue, is biochemical factors.

Fat tissue is not just a storage of excess energy but also an active endocrine organ that secretes various bioactive molecules known as adipokines. Excessive fat tissue produces an abundance of adipokines, which influence cartilage metabolism and inflammation, potentially accelerating the development of osteoarthritis (OA).

Obesity is associated with chronic low-grade systemic inflammation not detected by usual blood tests. It contributes to a low grade long-term inflammatory process in the body including the joints.

The combined impact of mechanical and biochemical stresses in obese individuals lead to accelerated cartilage degradation. The cartilage, which normally acts as a cushion between the bones, breaks down faster under these conditions, leading to osteoarthritis.