[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/reflexknees.com\/blogs\/running-and-knee-osteoarthritis-a-review\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/reflexknees.com\/blogs\/running-and-knee-osteoarthritis-a-review\/","headline":"Running and Knee Osteoarthritis: A Review","name":"Running and Knee Osteoarthritis: A Review","description":"  For years doctors have seen that anecdotal evidence clearly shows a correlation between distance running and its relationship with\u00a0osteoarthritis\u00a0(OA) for the knees and hips. That has led them to try to determine the causation between the two. We take a look at three different medical journals to try and determine if long distance running […]","datePublished":"2016-08-29","dateModified":"2024-01-09","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reflexknees.com\/author\/developer\/#Person","name":"Nick Petersen","url":"https:\/\/reflexknees.com\/author\/developer\/","identifier":2,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ea7fc410413ee0b715aee4c6b2d912c09623af5f85eaca6f6d7e0a2c223e1df?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ea7fc410413ee0b715aee4c6b2d912c09623af5f85eaca6f6d7e0a2c223e1df?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Reflex Knee Specialists","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/b1ec2b6df7.nxcli.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/logo.png","url":"http:\/\/b1ec2b6df7.nxcli.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/logo.png","width":169,"height":104}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/reflexknees.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/two-runners-legs-knee-brace_h.webp","url":"https:\/\/reflexknees.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/two-runners-legs-knee-brace_h.webp","height":1350,"width":2400},"url":"https:\/\/reflexknees.com\/blogs\/running-and-knee-osteoarthritis-a-review\/","about":["Blogs"],"wordCount":547,"articleBody":" For years doctors have seen that anecdotal evidence clearly shows a correlation between distance running and its relationship with\u00a0osteoarthritis\u00a0(OA) for the knees and hips. That has led them to try to determine the causation between the two. We take a look at three different medical journals to try and determine if long distance running increases the rate or severity of knee OA. 1990: A Comparative Study This study from Denmark evaluated the instances of osteoarthritis in the knees, hips, and ankles of individuals who had been serious, competitive, long-distance runners in their 20\u2019s and 30\u2019s. All but three were still actively running 40 years later and ran an average of 12-24 miles a week. They compared them to a control group of 27 non-runners who matched the first group in \u201cage, weight, height and occupation\u201d. They found no differences between the groups when it came to their range of motion or joint alignment. The researchers also measured the cartilage thickness for members of each group, noted the grade of OA and if any osteophytes were present. They found no significant differences between the runners and non-runners. They concluded their research stating that they did not believe long-distance running is \u201cassociated with premature osteoarthritis of the joints of the lower extremities.\u201d 2006: A Review of OA Clinical Studies In 2006 doctors did a review of the existing literature about long-distance running and its\u2019 relationship to the development of OA in animals and humans. They found that after reviewing the research findings that it was unclear if long-distance running caused an increased risk of developing the disease. In fact, it might have \u201cprotective effect against joint deterioration\u201d and recommended additional research be conducted to determine a positive connection between running and joint deterioration. 2008: Long Distance Running and OA This was a long-term study conducted with a runners group compared to a control group of individuals between the ages of 50-72. Every person in both groups had their knee cartilage evaluated radiographically and assigned a score based on their imaging results and regression analysis conducted every two years. At the onset of the study, most subjects showed minimal OA, only 6.7% of the runner\u2019s group and 0% in the control group. By the end of the study, the runners only showed moderate OA in 20% of the group vs. 32% in the control group. The same was said for severe OA with only 2.2% of the runners displaying it radiographically and 9.4% of the control group. The researchers concluded that \u201cno significant associations were seen with gender, education, previous knee injury, or mean exercise time.\u201d They saw no clear causal relationship between long-distance running and the development and progression of knee osteoarthritis. Run Free  Across the board, the research seems to be giving runners good news! The results show that being a long-distance runner does not increase your risk of getting knee osteoarthritis. Feel free to hit the pavement guilt free, you aren\u2019t hurting your knees, it may be proven one day that you\u2019re even helping them. But if your knees are bothering you, rather than give up something you love,\u00a0come see us\u00a0instead and we\u2019ll see what we can do to get you out of pain, but keep you running."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blogs","item":"https:\/\/reflexknees.com\/blogs\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Running and Knee Osteoarthritis: A Review","item":"https:\/\/reflexknees.com\/blogs\/running-and-knee-osteoarthritis-a-review\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]