Weight Loss Method Affects Knee Cartilage Deterioration

While obese individuals who lose weight can slow down degradation of knee cartilage, the benefits were only present in those who lost weight through diet and exercise or diet alone, according to the results of a recent study.

Although weight loss has been shown to benefit cartilage degeneration, the effects of weight loss method are unclear.
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For their study, researchers examined data on 760 men and women with BMIs of more than 25 from the Osteoarthritis Initiative, a nationwide research study. All participants had either mild or moderate osteoarthritis or risk factors for osteoarthritis, and were divided into 2 groups: weight loss (n=380) and control (n=380). The weight-loss group was then segmented by weight loss method. Cartilage degeneration and joint abnormalities were evaluated using MRI over 96 months of follow-up.

Overall, degeneration was significantly lower in the weight loss group compared with the control group, but only among patients who lost weight through diet and exercise or diet alone. Although participants who lost weight through exercise alone lost the same amount of weight, on average, as the other weight-loss groups, no significant differences in cartilage degeneration were observed in these participants.

“These results add to the hypothesis that solely exercise as a regimen in order to lose weight in overweight and obese adults may not be as beneficial to the knee joint as weight loss regimens involving diet,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Weight loss through exercise alone does not protect knees [press release]. RSNA. Chicago, Illinois. November 28, 2017. https://press.rsna.org/timssnet/Media/pressreleases/14_pr_target.cfm?id=1985.