Diet and Exercise Reduce Osteoarthritis Knee Pain
Two of the cornerstone approaches to treating knee osteoarthritis are exercise and losing excess weight. A study presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting (November 2022) provided added evidence for the effectiveness of these measures. The study included 637 men and women over age 50 with knee osteoarthritis and a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher. They were randomly assigned to either an 18-month diet and exercise program or a control group. At the end of the study, those in the diet and exercise program lost an average of 19 more pounds than the control group. Compared with the control group, those in the diet and exercise group had significantly greater improvements in pain scores and higher quality of life scores. They were able to walk farther on a six-minute walk distance test.
