Studies have revealed that the risk factors for OA of the knee could be systemic or local.
Systemic risk factors include:
- Age
- Gender
- Heredity
- Race/ethnicity
- Post-menopausal changes
- Diet (modifiable: eating the right meal is really important)
Local risk factors are:
- Injuries to the knee
- Knee joint alignment
- Obesity (modifiable: maintaining the right body weight cannot be over-emphasized)
- Metabolic syndrome
- Muscular weakness
- Previous knee surgery
- Smoking
- Limb length inequality
- Knee joint laxity
- Reduced bone mineral density (BMD)
- Repetitive and excessive knee joint loading (in some sports or occupations)
Please read: https://physiosparks.com/2021/02/06/knee-osteoarthritis-the-ripples/