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6000-Year-Old Knee Joints suggest Osteoarthritis Isn’t just Wear and Tear

The article talks about finding skeletons 4000+ years ago from the times of hunters and gatherers. The old idea was the more you wore it the more damage you caused leading to arthritis.  This research challenges this idea as the bones from 4000 years ago had less arthritis than knees from 2015. This is because these people likely did their 10,000 steps well before it was lunch time.

Cartilage is the protective layer between joints that prevents them from rubbing on one another. When a force is placed through the cartilage then over time it becomes more resistant. This is a similar process when going to the gym to make your muscles bigger. However, unlike muscles, cartilage takes much longer to get stronger and adapt to forces. It’s important to know that a force that is too large such as running may negatively impact the cartilage.

Figure 1: Hip and Knee Pain - Osteoarthritis - Physio Frenchs Forest, Physio Macquarie Park

Keep in mind it’s important to consider the following factors in the tissues ability to adapt:

  • Age
  • Diet
  • Amount of cartilage

So how can one avoid and reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis? There’s no injection, supplement or therapeutic machines that cure the disease however there’s supervised walking and strength training that will build resilience in the knee.

 

Book in with our expert Physiotherapy team at Macquarie Park, Frenchs Forest, Sutherland Shire or the Gold Coast!