Retired professional footballers at higher risk of knee osteoarthritis

Retired professional footballers are far more prone to develop knee pain and osteoarthritis and face problems with their knees earlier in life than the average person, a study has revealed. The study reported that male ex-footballers were two to three times more likely to suffer from knee pain and knee osteoarthritis and require a total knee replacement, even after adjustment for other risk factors including significant knee injury. Ex-footballers reported more knee pain, structural knee osteoarthritis on x-ray and total knee replacements across all age groups in the study and especially in younger age groups (40-54 years). Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the research also revealed that although former footballers presented with more musculoskeletal pain, they were less likely to suffer with and report other conditions or diseases such as diabetes, heart attacks and cancer. The study was led by Dr Gwen Fernandes and Professor Michael Doherty who are part of the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis and are based in the department of Academic Rheumatology in the University's School of Medicine. Benefits and risks. Professor Mark Batt, Director of the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis, and part of the research team, said: "This was a well-conducted study powered to investigate both the positive and negative effects of playing professional football.