Source – https:\/\/www.docwirenews.com\/<\/p>\n
A study that was presented at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting evaluated the effects of\u00a0different sports\u00a0on degeneration of the knee joint in overweight patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and found that racket sports\u2014such as tennis and racquetball\u2014sped up the degeneration process.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our study, progression of overall knee joint degeneration was consistently higher in overweight and\/or obese patients engaging in racket sports,\u201d said lead study author Silvia Schir\u00f2, MD, of the University of California San Francisco and the University of Parma in Parma, Italy,\u00a0when discussing the findings. \u201cWe also found that workouts using an elliptical trainer were associated with reduced progression of overall knee joint and cartilage defects. Moreover, our findings showed that when comparing different low impact activities with each other, such as bicycling, elliptical trainer and swimming, the elliptical trainer was associated with the lowest increase in WORMS (Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score) sub-scores over 48 months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Schir\u00f2 and her colleagues assessed 415 participants with a mean age of 59 \u00b1 8.6 years, all of whom had a\u00a0body mass index (BMI)\u00a0>25 kg\/m2<\/sup>\u00a0and knee radiographic Kellgren-Lawrence score <3. The average BMI was 30 kg\/m2<\/sup>\u00a0\u00b1 3.5, and 44% of participants were female. Patients were recruited from the Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort. Patients reported whether they regularly took part in ball sports, bicycling, jogging\/running, elliptical trainer, racquet sports, and swimming. The modified WORMS was used to assess structural knee abnormalities.<\/p>\n Over a two-year period, participants who regularly took part in racquet sports had much greater increases in WORMS compared to those who regularly used the elliptical trainer (average difference in changes in WORMS, 4.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.86\u20138.10;\u00a0P<\/em><0.001) and who reported regular jogging\/running (average difference in changes in WORMS. 2.88; 95% CI, 0.42\u20135.33;\u00a0P<\/em>=0.009).<\/p>\n \u201cA large lateral force imparted at the foot during side-to-side movements may be driving large knee adduction moments, a key feature in medial compartment disease, which imparts high compressive loads on the medial tibia and femoral condyle,\u201d Dr. Schir\u00f2 said. \u201cIn support of this premise, the racket sports group showed elevated cartilage degeneration in the medial tibia.\u201d<\/p>\n While the data suggest that some people may benefit from switching to other sports\u2014such as swimming\u2014there are safe ways to play racquetball sports, and degeneration may not be the same in everyone, according to Dr. Schir\u00f2.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is possible that some individuals with sufficient strength and motor control may be able to safely play these sports,\u201d she noted. \u201cOur data suggests that as a group, though, overweight and obese individuals who play racket sports are at higher risk for disease progression.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[3732,218,208,55,4467],"class_list":["post-6501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weight-loss-gain","tag-joints","tag-knee","tag-overweight","tag-patients","tag-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n