Photo: j.fralin, Flickr

Poor knees. They carry around our full weight every day. And knees that are attached to an overweight body are working overtime.

In addition to heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions, obesity can put you at risk for knee injury and conditions like osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative musculoskeletal disorder that usually develops slowly, but obesity can cause rapid deterioration of the cartilage in the knee. Once you develop osteoarthritis, there's not much doctors can do; treatments revolve around managing the pain, and severe cases may require knee replacement surgery.

Over 300 patients who were at risk for osteoarthritis participated in a recent study. Weight proved to be a big factor in tissue decline; for every one unit increase in body mass index, the chance for cartilage loss jumped by 11 percent.

There is something simple you can do to ease osteoarthritis if you already have it, and reduce your risk if you don't.

A recent study shows that nearly two in three obese people will develop osteoarthritis. It's a painful, degenerative condition and can result in reduced mobility, knee replacement surgery, even disability. Losing weight can be the single most important thing you do for your knees -- every pound you lose reduces four pounds of pressure on your knees.

Exercise is also vital. If your joints are sore, try swimming or water walking. Other low impact activities such as walking may also be helpful. You can also ask your doctor for advice on appropriate physical activity.

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Martha recently posted about how exercise can help stroke patients recover. A new virtual reality program that is undergoing clinical trials in the UK and in Canada helps the recovery process a little more.

A researcher at Portsmouth University in the UK created a treadmill that's linked to a virtual reality system. The system helps people recovering from strokes, traumatic falls, and those living with osteoarthritis to build up their endurance, increase their range of motion, and improve their gate.

The system displays scenes -- cityscapes, forest trails, mountains, etc. As the patient is walking on the treadmill, the scenery changes. The system gives them the motivation to walk -- and it also encourages them to virtually pick up objects which aids in balance. In addition, the motion of the scenery is adjusted so the patients walk faster and more smoothly, almost without realizing it.

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Ah, the power of food. Even small portions of food have power, like small salads.

Small salads eaten just before a meal can keep your knees and hands free of arthritis. It's the vitamin K found in leafy greens like cabbage, spinach, and swiss chard that reduces the risk of joint damage.

Here's what science says about this salad scoop: Those with higher blood levels of vitamin K have significantly less chance of developing bone spurs and cartilage damage, common complaints of those with painful osteoarthritis. Hands seem to benefit the most, but knees get a dose of protection too.

Once word of caution before you mix up those greens: if you are on blood thinners, check with your doctor to determine how much vitamin K is appropriate for you.

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Exercise -- it's part of what's necessary to lose weight. But, for extremely obese men and women, even light exercise can sometimes prove too much on tendons and ligaments.

A study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise reveals that light exercise, such as as regularly-paced walking, can increase a person's risk of osteoarthritis if they're obese. Overweight walkers were found to have 51 percent more muscle torque -- the force that pulls on muscles, tendons, and ligaments and leads to the breakdown of cartilage -- than people whose weight was in a healthy range.

This doesn't mean that exercising is too dangerous and should be avoided if you're exceptionally heavy. Rather, it merely highlights the fact that extra care needs to be taken, which should include a discussion with your doctor and/or specialist about the right fitness protocol for you.

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Remember the coup de toe episode of Seinfeld? You know, where Geroge tells Jerry to use a joke in his stand-up routine about the situation wherein a person's second toe is longer than their big toe, ostensibly positioning itself to be the new the leader of the foot. Well, it turns out that this digit disparity is much less of a laughing matter if your ring finger is longer than your index finger.

Researchers from the University of Nottingham in England found that people whose index finger is shorter than their ring finger have double the chance of developing osteoarthritis. Great - just checked ... my ring finger is longer than my index finger. Never, ever noticed that before. Anyway, researchers posit that a small index finger can be an indication of low levels of estrogen, steroid compounds involved in the prevention of bone density loss.

But if you're like little ol' index finger me, you can still protect yourself against osteoarthritis by keeping your weight under control. Maintaining a healthy weight will reduce pressure on your joints, thereby reducing your risk of developing this degenerative clinical syndrome -- regardless of how long or short your fingers may be.

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If you're obese, starting a regular exercise program should be something worth serious consideration. Not only will you improve the way you look and feel, but you will greatly reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and a number of other health complications. However,this does not necessarily mean that you should rush into a workout program without first checking with your doctor, as certain exercises may cause injury and further health issues.

According to a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, even such light exercise as walking can increase your risk of osteoarthritis if you're obese. Overweight walkers were found to have 51 percent more muscle torque -- the force that pulls on muscles, tendons, and ligaments and leads to the breakdown of cartilage -- than people whose weight was in a healthy range.

This does not mean that exercising is too dangerous and should be avoided if you're exceptionally heavy. It merely means that care needs to be taken, and that includes a discussion with your doctor. He or she will most likely suggest that you enter into your workout regimen with a great deal of ease, gradually increasing duration, tempo, and intensity over time.

The first randomized trial evidence revealing the dangers of taking ibuprofen and aspirin together was recently released by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

The research suggests that the ibuprofen inhibits the blood thinning properties of aspirin, leaving patients at a reported nine-times higher risk of heart attack. The cardiovascular health of 18,523 patients who are over 50 years old and had osteoarthritis (which is why they were likely taking the ibuprofen) was reviewed by the researchers involved with this study.

The researchers concluded that doctors should seriously reconsider ever giving patients, who are at risk of cardiovascular problems, ibuprofen to deal with pain.

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More than two-thirds of the half-million Americans who have knee replacement surgery every year are women, according to the November 1 issue of Ladies Home Journal. In the next 25 years, as baby boomers continue to age, that number is expected to increase by 673 percent. Ouch.

Check out these facts: Young female athletes are more likely than men to injure their knee-stabilizing anterior cruciate ligaments. Women with wider pelvises have the least stable knees. And more than two-thirds of people with osteoarthritis, which leads to knee pain, are women.

What's a woman to do? If your pain has already begun, look into physical therapy and prescription and over-the-counter medications to alleviate discomfort. For prevention, you can identify fitness activities that support the knees. To get you started, here are some sample good-for-the-knees exercises.

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Each week, we'll be offering original recipes and unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

I have pineapple on my mind because we just happen to have a fresh one in our house. It's been sliced and diced into nice little squares, and it sits in a Tupperware bowl in our fridge right now. My boys and I are happy to have this juicy fruit during a time when all of our favorites -- strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, watermelon -- are disappearing from the grocery store produce aisles. It's a great fruit for many reasons -- it's super for nibbling, super if you're in a pinch and need to grab a quick bite, super for school lunches, and well, it's just plain super.

Pineapple is a Superfood because of its healing power on the joints. A top source of bromelain, an enzyme that helps support joint health, pineapples have anti-inflammatory properties that can alleviate osteoarthritis. Bromelain also cleans up dead cells after injury, helps reduce inflammation related to asthma, and even inhibits the growth of malignant cells in both lung and breast cancer.

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We already know that aquatic exercise is a great alternative for those with joint pain or arthritis. But a recent Danish study found that regular aquatic exercise may actually reduce pain and improve function for those suffering from osteoarthritis. Though the gains made were small, researchers believe they are significant, and suggested that more research be done to find out exactly what benefit patients might receive from long-term aquatic exercise therapy.

Unfortunately, the water workouts did not seem to alleviate stiffness or improve ability to walk, but it will be interesting to see if this research leads to better treatment through exercise for osteoarthritis sufferers.

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An osteoarthritis drug called Prexige has been taken off the shelves and can no longer be sold in Canada after Health Canada decided to pull the product. The drug was approved in November 2006 as a treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee and later was approved to treat general osteoarthritis symptoms in adults.

However, patients -- including two in Canada -- began reporting serious liver problems after taking the drug. Australia was the first country to pull Prexige and the United States rejected the drug altogether due to concerns over these side-effects.

Those who have been prescribed Prexige who want more information on the story can look here, and should visit their doctors in order to find an appropriate treatment to replace the drug.

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Quite often patients schedule visits with their doctor due to knee pain only to find out that the problem actually lies in their hips. Called "referred pain," it's a fairly common phenomenon based in very complex causes related to the nervous system and how the body is internally "wired."

Only a doctor can help you find out if pain is truly coming from the source or is referred from some other body part. Keeping track of the symptoms of your pain and talking openly with your doctor about them, as well as asking about different treatment options, is really the best thing you can do.

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A new study has found that osteoarthritis is worse for smokers. This painful condition, causing inflammation and loss of cartilage in the joints, is more degenerative and more painful for those who light up.

According to doctors, part of the reason is that smokers have lower pain thresholds.

MRI scans of the knees of 30 men (12% of whom smoked), showed that smokers had lost nearly double the amount of cartilage as non-smokers.

20 million Americans are effected by osteoarthritis. Age and heredity are the main causes of the disease, with unhealthy lifestyles -- such as obesity (and now smoking) -- complicating and contributing to the problem.

Just one more reason to quit.

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