How drinking low fat milk delays knee osteoarthritis progression in women.

A new research has shown that women who drink low-fat milk delay the progression of osteoarthritis of the knee, as opposed to women who ate cheese who had an increase in osteoarthritis progression in the knee. Yogurt on the other hand showed no impact on knee osteoarthritis in men or women. The research published in the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) journal, Arthritis Care & Research, show that women who ate cheese had an increase in knee osteoarthritis progression. The study also showed that women who frequently consumed fat-free or low-fat milk may delay the progression of osteoarthritis of the knee. Osteoarthritis(OA) is a common, degenerative joint disease that causes pain and swelling of joints in the hand, hips, or knee affecting millions of people worldwide,and because milk is vial to bone health the researchers decided to use its role as a platform for the study. The study engaged 2,148 participants (3,064 knees) with knee OA were recruited for the Osteoarthritis Initiative, at the onset of the study dietary data was collected and joint space width was measured by x-ray to evaluate OA progression. The participants were 888 men and 1,260 women who had follow-up at 12, 24, 36, and 48 months. In the course of the study,the intake of milk increased from 0 to less than 3 , 4-6, and more than 7 (8 oz) glasses per week and the joint space width in women also decreased by 0.38mm, 0.29mm,0.29mm and 0.26mm, respectively. The results persisted even after adjusting for disease severity, body mass index (BMI) and dietary factors,but this association between milk consumption and joint space width decrease was not observed in man.