Does Exercise Protect Against Development of Knee Osteoarthritis?

Although exercise is promoted for the prevention of many diseases associated with aging, it is unclear what effect exercise has on degenerative osteoarthritis of the knee. To examine the relation between exercise and knee joint cartilage, Australian investigators recruited 176 women (from a larger cross-sectional study of 1400 women) without knee osteoarthritis or history of knee pain or knee injury. All women underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the dominant knee.

Fully 78% of the women (average age, 52; age range, 40–67; average body-mass index, 27 kg/m²) reported engaging in exercise intense enough to cause tachypnea and tachycardia for at least 20 minutes at least once in the previous 14 days. These women had significantly lower weigh…