When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, I didn't know what I was going to do. After the devastation subsided, I decided to take a very standard, western approach to my healing. Although initial efforts were successful, my cancer recurred a few months later. I endured many additional months of treatment before I started focusing on myself. I decided it was time to incorporate complimentary alternative treatments into my healing regimen, including massage therapy. I can't even begin to tell you how much it changed my life. My healing became a process, instead of something I simply had to endure. I hope that the articles on my website can inspire you to stay open-minded about your own healthcare.
Being overweight causes a host of health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. But did you know it can also cause inflammatory diseases, such as arthritis of the knees? It can, and the statistics are alarming. Two out of every three obese adults suffer from knee osteoarthritis at some point. Statistics also show that knee problems are on the rise along with obesity. Arthritis cases caused by obesity has risen from 3 percent in the early 1970s to 18 percent in the early 2000s.
If you're experiencing knee and joint pain, you may want to think about how much extra weight you're carrying. Those extra pounds are hurting you more than you know.
How Obesity Causes Knee Problems
For each pound you weigh, your knees endure up to 5 pounds of force or weight. So even a little bit of extra weight can be devastating to your knee health. Arthritis occurs when the knee's cartilage gets worn away or becomes damaged. As you can imagine, the extra force caused by excess weight can make this process happen more quickly. And once arthritis sets in, weight helps the disease to progress along at a rapid rate.
A special form of arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, is classified as an autoimmune disease. However, there is evidence that points to the fact that weight plays a role in this disease as well. While it's not fully understood why obesity can cause RA, medical professionals believe that fat cells release inflammatory chemicals. Extra weight also increases the production of a hormone called leptin in the body. This hormone is also believed to be damaging to joints.
How Weight Loss Relieves Pain
Even if you already have arthritis or knee pain, losing weight can help your condition immensely. Studies have shown that people who lose more than 10 percent of their body weight experience a much slower degeneration of joint tissue than those who don't lose any weight or only lose a marginal amount of weight. Another study revealed that those who are able to lose weight experience a 50 percent reduction in knee pain.
Your weight can affect your health in a multitude of ways. If you're experiencing knee pain and are overweight or obese, your weight is likely the cause for your pain. To see what treatment options are available to you and to screen for underlying causes of knee pain, be sure to talk to an orthopaedic specialists — like Orthopaedic Associates Of Osceola.
Share18 January 2016
