Cigarette smoking increases pain, cartilage loss in knee osteoarthritis

Everyone knows that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease. Health hazards really don’t get much worse than those two, so I don’t suppose that adding another item to the list will inspire smokers to suddenly quit for good.

Nevertheless, smokers should be aware that their habit might be very hard on the knees.

In a trial that followed nearly 160 men with osteoarthritis of the knees for more than two years, researchers found that long time smokers had more than twice the risk of significant cartilage loss compared to non-smokers. Subjects in the smoking group generally reported more severe levels of pain than non-smokers.

The study wasn’t designed to explore the mechanism behind this link, but researchers believe that cigarette toxins may starve joint tissues of oxygen.

Source:
“Smokers Have Greater Knee Pain” Net Doctor, 12/8/06, netdoctor.co.uk