[Click! Health] Knees Weaken with Age... Take Care of Your Parents' Knee Health

One of the representative diseases that come with aging is knee osteoarthritis. Since knee osteoarthritis is a disease that causes severe inconvenience in daily life, it is important to pay attention and recognize it early to prevent the worsening of the disease and improve the quality of life for patients. This is why we should care about our parents' knee health as Parents' Day approaches.

Kim Taehyun, Director of Orthopedic Surgery at Mokdong Himchan Hospital, said, “Knee osteoarthritis in parents is a disease that children can recognize with just a little attention, and symptoms can be improved with treatment. If there is a continuous sound from the joint, swelling, persistent pain, difficulty in fully extending or bending the leg, or leg deformity with widening of the space between the knees, osteoarthritis should be suspected.”

[Provided by Himchan Hospital]

Knee osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage protecting the knee joint is damaged or undergoes degenerative changes due to aging. Generally, the prevalence increases with age. In particular, women have more than twice the prevalence compared to men. This is because after menopause, the female hormones that strengthen bones and muscles rapidly decrease, weakening bones and cartilage, and thigh muscles are weaker compared to men, making joints more susceptible to damage. Additionally, many women work in environments that require squatting, making them more vulnerable to osteoarthritis.

Degenerative arthritis causes severe pain, joint deformity, walking difficulties, and reduced energy, leading to decreased activity levels and significantly lowering health and quality of life in old age. Therefore, it is important to carefully check the condition of parents' knees and monitor symptoms. A typical symptom is swelling of the knee, which signals abnormalities in the knee cartilage or joint. In osteoarthritis, synovial fluid, which lubricates the joint for smooth movement, is excessively secreted, causing fluid accumulation and swelling in the knee. Swollen knee joints may hurt and then subside after a few days, but frequent swelling requires accurate examination. If there are sounds from the knee, frequent pain, or if the legs are bowed in an O-shape or deformed, an examination is necessary.

It is also important to monitor the treatment status of parents' knees after onset. If osteoarthritis is not properly treated and left untreated, cartilage wears away completely, causing increased bone friction, severe pain, inflammation, and joint deformity.

In the early to mid-stages of knee osteoarthritis, when symptoms are relatively mild, conservative treatments such as medication, injections, physical therapy, and exercise therapy can alleviate symptoms along with weight control, exercise, and lifestyle changes. However, if the cartilage is worn away and bones directly rub causing severe pain and joint dysfunction in the late stage, artificial joint surgery may be necessary. Artificial joint surgery is performed on patients who cannot endure pain due to the absence of knee cartilage. The surgery involves removing damaged cartilage, meniscus, and cruciate ligaments caused by osteoarthritis and inserting an artificial joint into the bone so that the artificial cartilage functions as the meniscus.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.