Recent study exposes longitudinal risk factors for femoral cartilage loss

 The risk factors for femoral cartilage loss in knee osteoarthritis have been described in the results of a recent study.  These include:

• female gender
• smoking (cigarettes)
• age
• severity of lower limb muscle weakness

From the study authors:

"This study provides evidence confirming that significant risk factors are associated with femoral cartilage loss and these include gender (female), age, smoking, and severity of lower limb muscle weakness. It also supports the hypothesis that femoral cartilage swelling reflected by an increased baseline cartilage volume could be a predictor of disease progression. Our findings also provide interesting clues to implement preventive measures that can possibly prevent or reduce knee cartilage loss" (Ding et al, 2007).

Reference:
Ding C, Martel-Pelletier J, Pelletier JP, Abram F, Raynauld JP, Cicuttini F, Jones G. Two-year prospective longitudinal study exploring the factors associated with change in femoral cartilage volume in a cohort largely without knee radiographic osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2007 Sep 22