2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
Runners' eternal question: "Will all this running ruin my knees?" Existing research leads to the opposite conclusion: runners are not more likely, and perhaps even less likely to suffer from osteoarthritis than non-runners.
Osteoarthritis of the knee joint is a disease that leads to loss of mobility in the knee. To one degree or another, osteoarthritis of the knees affects about a quarter of the elderly.
Research is usually imperfect. When choosing a group of runners according to certain criteria, there is always the possibility that these particular athletes are not prone to knee injuries while running. With this in mind, of particular interest is a study carried out by a group of scientists from Baylor College of Medicine and presented at last year's convention of the American College of Rheumatology.
The study involved 2,439 people. Their average age is 65 years old, 28% of them used to run. It is important, as the authors note, that the study participants were local residents, and not any special group of runners. The data was obtained from regular examinations, X-rays, and so on.
Participants filled out a questionnaire that included a list of the three most frequent physical activities at different stages of life (12-18, 19-34, 35-49, after 50 years). Then the researchers tried to establish a connection between the marks of jogging at any stage of life with the subsequent development of knee osteoarthritis.
The results were pretty interesting. People who ran in their youth, old age, or throughout their lives were 16–29% less likely to develop osteoarthritis than non-runners. Some of the results, however, were due to the fact that athletes tend to weigh less, which is an advantage in this case. However, even when this amendment was made, the runners still won.
By the way, data published last year showed that knee injuries were associated with the intensive development of osteoarthritis. This is consistent with earlier studies suggesting that the increased risk of knee osteoarthritis in former athletes is largely due to injury.
In other words, if you want to save your knees, be aware of more dislocations than shock loads.
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