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Soft drink consumption associated with increased knee osteoarthritis in men
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WASHINGTON — Increased progression of knee osteoarthritis in men might be associated with frequent consumption of high-calorie soft drinks, according to research presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting.
“Soft drink intake is associated with many diseases, for example, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It also increases the risk for osteoarthritis progression,” researcher Bing Lu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, told Healio.com.“The take-home message is don’t drink soft drinks.”
Researchers studied 2,149 participants (3,066 knees) with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and conducted follow-ups at 12, 24, 36 and 48 months. A food frequency questionnaire assessed soft drink frequency (not including diet soft drinks); dietary data also were compiled at baseline. Based on X-rays, change in quantitative joint space width (JSW) in medial compartments between the knee’s adjacent bones was used to measure OA progression. Associations between soft drink consumption and changes in JSW were measured through multivariate linear models.
Soft drink consumption and adjusted mean changes of JSW in men (P trend <.001) were observed using stratified analysis by gender, controlling for BMI and other confounders. At each follow-up, JSW mean changes were 0.29 mm, 0.39 mm, 0.36 mm and 0.59 mm with increasing levels of soft drink consumption, respectively. Stronger dose-response relation existed when stratified by BMI tertiles (changes in JSW, 0.21 mm, 0.38 mm, 0.40 mm and 0.75 mm, respectively) in men with BMI less than 27.5 kg/m2. Increased JSW was found only in the highest soft drink consumption response in men with BMI of at least 27.5 kg/m2 compared with nondrinkers. For women, those with BMI less than 27.3 kg/m2 (P trend <.001) had significant dose-response relationship with soft drink intake.
“[Research on] the dietary factor for early progression of OA has been very limited,” Lu said. “Replication of these novel findings in other prospective studies demonstrating the reduction in soft drink consumption leads to delay in OA progression are needed to test this hypothesis,” the researchers concluded.
For more information:
Lu B. P745: Soft Drink Intake and Progression of Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Presented at: American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting; Nov. 10-14, 2012; Washington.