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MEDICAL: ANATOMY :
MEDICAL: CONDITIONS: ARTHRITIS:
Outward Knee Alignment Increases Arthritis Risk,
Finds NIH-Funded Study
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:23:23 -0400
From: "NIH OLIB (NIH/OD)" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Outward Knee Alignment Increases Arthritis Risk,
Finds NIH-Funded Study
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(NICHD)
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/
For Immediate Release: Monday, August 16, 2010
CONTACT:
Robert Bock
or
Marianne Glass Miller
301-496-5133
e-mail:
[log in to unmask]
OUTWARD KNEE ALIGNMENT INCREASES
ARTHRITIS RISK, FINDS NIH-FUNDED STUDY
Existing arthritis worsens when poorly aligned joints bear increased
stress
People with a particular kind of knee alignment have a greater chance of
developing osteoarthritis than do those with other types of leg alignment,
reported researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health.
The study authors found that the higher risk occurred among those with an
outward-facing alignment-knees relatively far apart and ankles closer
together. Known as varus alignment, the knee configuration resembles
bowleggedness, but is not as extreme.
Osteoarthritis
http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Osteoarthritis/default.asp
results from the deterioration of cartilage, the hard, slippery material
that cushions the ends of bone at the joints. The condition causes pain
and often results in disability. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, osteoarthritis of the knees
http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/osteoarthritis.htm
affects 6.1 percent of all adults over age 30.
The current finding, from a two and one half year study of nearly 3,000
people, may lead to the development of new ways to prevent osteoarthritis
of the knee or lessen its symptoms.
The researchers also confirmed earlier findings that for people who have
arthritis, varus alignment as well its opposite, the valgus, or inner
facing, alignment contribute to worsening of the condition on the side of
the knee bearing more stress.
"The study authors have shown that the varus alignment is a risk factor
for osteoarthritis of the knees," said Nancy Shinowara, Ph.D., a health
scientist administrator in the National Center for Rehabilitation Research
of the NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development (NICHD). "Future research may lead to new ways to
reduce the stress that the condition places on knees and, in so doing,
prevent osteoarthritis or lessen its severity."
The study was published online in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
NIH's National Institute of Aging also provided funding for the study.
First author Leena Sharma, M.D., of Northwestern University's Feinberg
School of Medicine in Chicago, conducted the study, with researchers there
and at Boston University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham; the
University of Iowa, Iowa City; Queens University in Kingston, Ontario;
OAISYS, Inc., Kingston, Ontario; and the University of California, San
Francisco.
The researchers followed 2,713 volunteers from Birmingham and Iowa City.
The participants, from 50 to 79 years of age, had arthritis or were at
increased risk of developing the condition because they were overweight,
had a previous knee injury or previously had knee surgery.
Using X-rays of each participant's legs, the researchers first measured
the angle at which the upper and lower leg bones intersected at the
knee-that is, the angle from the hip to the knee, to the ankle.
Alignment that diverged more than two degrees in either direction from the
180 degrees straight leg alignment was considered valgus or varus.
Participant's knees were X-rayed when they entered the study, and again,
two and one half years later.
The researchers also compared knee X-ray images taken at the study
beginning with images taken two and a half years later. They examined them
for tiny projections known as bone spurs and for thinning of cartilage,
which are two telltale signs of arthritis. Using standard measurements,
they rated the severity of new or worsening arthritis.
The research team found the varus stance was associated with 1.49 times
the risk of developing arthritis compared with a straight-legged stance,
whereas there was no increased risk for the valgus stance. The
researchers statistically compensated for potentially complicating factors
such as knee stability, muscle strength, and body weight.
Dr. Sharma explained that when someone walks on a healthy knee, about 70
percent of the force transmitted to the knee is focused on the inside.
Varus alignment further increases the stress of impact on the inside of
the knee, which may explain why this alignment was associated with an
increased risk of developing osteoarthritis.
"Our results suggest the need to design interventions for people with
varus alignment, in hopes of redistributing stress and possibly helping to
prevent knee arthritis before it develops," said Dr. Sharma.
The researchers also examined the effect of alignment in knees that were
already arthritic. People with varus alignment were 3.59 times more
likely to experience worsening of their condition on the inside of the
knee, where stress is greatest, than those with a straight knee alignment.
Those with knee arthritis who had valgus alignment were 4.85 times more
likely to experience worsening on the outside of the knee.
The NICHD sponsors research on development, before and after birth;
maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population
issues; and medical rehabilitation. For more information, visit the
Institute's Web site at
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research
Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal
agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational
medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures
for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its
programs, visit
http://www.nih.gov
##
This NIH News Release is available online at:
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2010/nichd-16.htm
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