Smoking may worsen knee arthritis

December 12, 2006

Mon Dec 11, 2:37 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Smokers with knee arthritis suffer quicker joint

deterioration than non-smokers with the condition, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that among 159 men with knee arthritis, smokers reported more

pain and were more than twice as likely to show significant cartilage loss in

the joint.

Cartilage is the elastic tissue that cushions the ends of the bones; in

osteoarthritis -- the common " wear-and-tear " form of arthritis -- this cartilage

gradually breaks down, leading to inflammation, pain and deformity in the bones.

Some past studies, though not all, have suggested that smokers might be at

greater risk of osteoarthritis. The current one, published online by the ls

of the Rheumatic Diseases, suggests that when smokers do develop the condition,

it may be more severe.

The findings are " provocative " and should spur further research, write the study

authors, led by Dr. Shreyasee Amin of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in

Rochester, Minnesota.

The 159 men with knee osteoarthritis in the study were followed for 2.5 years.

The researchers used MRI scans to measure cartilage loss in the knee at the

beginning, midpoint and end of the study. The men also rated their knee pain at

each follow-up visit.

In general, Amin's team found, the 12 percent of men who were smoking at the

study's outset showed greater cartilage loss over time and reported more pain

than their non-smoking counterparts. This was despite the fact that the smokers

tended to be younger and weigh less, which might be expected to delay

progression of their arthritis.

There are a number of reasons smoking could exacerbate arthritis, according to

the researchers. For one, they note, smoking can deprive tissue of oxygen, which

might hinder normal cartilage repair. In addition, since cartilage itself has no

pain fibers, it's possible that smokers' greater pain comes from damage to other

structures in the arthritic joint.

SOURCE: ls of the Rheumatic Diseases, online December 7, 2006.

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