Again as I said these are recent studies.
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Squatting increases knee arthritis risk: study [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Last Updated: 2004-04-05 14:03:36 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Merritt McKinney
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Habitual squatting may increase the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis later in life, according to a new study.
The findings may help explain why elderly people in China are more likely to develop the condition than their peers in the U.S., researchers say.
Obesity increases the risk of osteoarthritis of the knee, but not everyone who develops knee arthritis is obese. Even though elderly people in China tend to be thinner than U.S. seniors, knee arthritis is as common in Chinese men and more common in Chinese women.
Since squatting is a traditional resting and working position in China, Dr. Yuqing Zhang of Boston University School of Medicine and colleagues examined the effect of squatting on the odds of developing knee arthritis.
The study included more than 1,800 Chinese people who were at least 60 years old. Besides undergoing a scan to detect osteoarthritis in the knee, participants were asked to remember how much they squatted at age 25.
People who reported squatting the most as young adults were most likely to develop knee arthritis in old age, Zhang's team reports in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism.
"While several studies have found that occupational squatting increases the risk of knee osteoarthritis, this is the first study which showed that the prolonged squatting in daily living activities occurring at (an) early age is a strong risk factor for knee osteoarthritis," Zhang told Reuters Health.
This was true even in people who were thin, Zhang said.
Squatting was most strongly associated with an increased risk of a type of arthritis called tibiofemoral osteoarthritis -- erosion of the joint between the thigh bone and the shin bone.
Among Chinese men, those who reported squatting more than 3 hours a day were nearly twice as likely to have this type of arthritis than men who squatted for less than 30 minutes per day. The risk was increased by 70 percent in men who squatted 2 to 3 hours a day.
Squatting also increased the risk in women, especially in those who squatted for at least 3 hours a day.
The association between squatting and an increased risk of one type of knee arthritis may help explain differences in arthritis rates between elderly people in China and the U.S., according to the researchers.
When Zhang's team compared the Chinese study group with participants in a large U.S. study, they found that tibiofemoral arthritis was about 10 percent more common in Chinese women than in U.S. women. Chinese men, however, were less likely to have this type of arthritis than American men.
Although most people in the U.S. do not squat for extended periods of time, Zhang noted that squatting and kneeling are very common in daily activities, such as gardening and lifting. People need to be aware that squatting can generate harmful forces on the knee joint and may increase the risk of knee arthritis.
SOURCE: Arthritis & Rheumatism, April 2004. [/font]
Who the hell COULD squat for three hours?
