Western diet increases risk of knee osteoarthritis: Study

Regular intake of western diet may increase the risk of knee osteoarthritis, suggests a study published in the Osteoarthritis and Cartilage journal.

Osteoarthritis is derived from "osteo"- bone and "arthritis"- inflammation. So, osteoarthritis refers to a painful condition of any joint of the body. However, it generally affects the weight-bearing joints like the knees and the feet.

Knee osteoarthritis is an inflammatory condition characterized by degeneration of the knee's articular cartilage (the supple, slippery substance that generally prevents any joint friction or injury). It also involves structural changes in the bone underlying the cartilage and can affect surrounding soft tissues. Old age, sex (mostly women), genetics, joint injury, obesity are some of the identified risk factors for knee osteoarthritis. Additionally, few studies have tried to investigate an association between dietary factors and the risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA).

A study was conducted by Xu C et. al to investigate the potential linkage between the dietary patterns and risk of developing knee osteoarthritis.

The researchers selected 2,842 patients in Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) between the age group 45–79 years and who had at least one knee free from radiographic knee OA at baseline for up to 72 months. They defined the knee osteoarthritis incidence as Kellgren and Lawrence grade ≥2 during follow-up visits. Following which they performed principal component analysis, to derive Western and prudent dietary patterns. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association between dietary patterns and incident knee osteoarthritis.

The findings were as follows:

· Majority of the study participants (385 out of 418 knees) developed knee osteoarthritis within 72 months.

· Following the western diet plan was linked with increased risk of knee osteoarthritis (HR _{quartile 4 vs 1} = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.13 to 2.52, p trend: 0.03).

· Following a prudent diet plan was linked with decreased risk of knee osteoarthritis (HR _{quartile 4 vs 1} = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.50 to 0.98, p trend: 0.05).

· The observed associations decreased after additionally adjusting for body mass index (BMI).

· The observed associations were mediated through BMI by approximately 30%.

Thus, the researchers concluded that consuming Western diet increased the risk associated with knee osteoarthritis, while following a prudent diet pattern was associated with a reduced risk of knee OA.

Reference:

A study titled, "Dietary patterns and risk of developing knee osteoarthritis: data from the osteoarthritis initiative" by Xu C et. al published in the osteoarthritis and cartilage journal.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joca.2021.02.571