A new study finds that having osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease of joint cartilage and bones, could increase the risk of death by cardiovascular disease, reports The New York Times.
The study published in the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage stated that women over 60 years of age are more likely to be affected and that nearly 13% of women and 10% of men suffer from this disease.
The study also found that people suffering from osteoarthritis of the knees and hips are at a higher risk of dying from heart failure or heart attack.
However, in most of the cases there is no direct co-relation between osteoarthritis and the cause of death. But the scientists found out that people with knee and hip osteoarthritis were 20% more likely than the rest of the population to die from heart disease.
The risk increases with the duration of the disease and is more apparent after nine to eleven years. After all, it is a disease that worsens with time.
Osteoarthritis Linked Inactivity Increases Health Risks So Exercise is Vital
For the study, scientists tracked the health of 469,177 residents from southern Sweden aged between 45 to 84 years for 11 years.
They discovered that out of the total number, 29,189 patients were suffering from osteoarthritis of the knees, hands, hips and other joints.
The researchers stated that the studies made sense because when a person is inactive and has pain, this inactivity along with the obesity increases the chances of cardiovascular disease.
Lead author of the study, Martin Englund, a professor at Lund University in Sweden told The New York Times,
“Exercise is really important in treating this illness. There is no quick fix. We have no wonder drug.”