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Weight loss, exercise can ease your aching knees Sept. 12, 2006 Two seemingly contradictory aspects of American life have contributed to an increase in knee problems: an increasing number of participants in recreational sports and an increase in obesity. "We see knee injuries all day long," says Sandy L. Gibson, a physical therapist at St. Luke's Hospital's Sportswise program in the Kansas City, Mo., area. The two primary strategies to prevent knee injury are exercise and weight management. Excess body weight is also a significant factor in the development of osteoarthritis in the knees. Overweight women have nearly four times the risk of knee osteoarthritis, reports Susan Bartlett, assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University's Arthritis Center. For overweight men, the risk is five times greater. Bartlett says even small amounts of weight loss reduce the risk of developing osteoarthritis in the knee. Studies suggest that for a woman of average height, every 11 pounds of weight lost resulted in a 50 percent reduction in the risk of knee osteoarthritis. Gibson has these tips for keeping your knees in good working order: • Wear appropriate athletic shoes for each type of exercise. • Consider low-impact exercises like walking, elliptical or stationary bicycles, and swimming. • Warm up and stretch your legs, back and hip muscles before exercising. • Exercise on softer surfaces -- grass, asphalt or a track is better than concrete sidewalks. Step platforms should not be too high for beginners. Strengthening the muscles that support the knee joint is critical in preventing injury. Exercises designed for this purpose have been developed by the ACL Prevention Project, aclprevent.com, a program of the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation. Source: http://www.kentucky.com
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