Around one in five people aged over 45 has osteoarthritis, where the cartilage that cushions the bone in our knees wears thin. It’s a growing problem, says orthopedic surgeon Mark Wilkinson, who is also a professor of orthopedics at the University of Sheffield.
‘The incidence is increasing because of our aging population, and because rates of obesity, a major risk factor for knee osteoarthritis, are rising,’ he says. There is no cure and treatments focus on relieving pain until the joint deteriorates so much that a replacement is necessary.
Scientists from Boston University found that the steroids in these jabs could speed up the joint’s disintegration — hastening the need for a knee replacement. One theory is that the steroids may be toxic to cartilage in some cases.
‘We’ve been telling patients that even if these injections don’t relieve your pain, they won’t hurt you,’ the study leader, Dr. Ali Guermazi, a professor of radiology, wrote in the journal Radiology. ‘We are now seeing that these injections can be harmful to the joints.’
