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Anyone could guess that obesity causes an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes, but according to a recent study described on HealthDay, rapid loss of knee cartilage can be directly linked to being overweight, which can then lead to Osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is not something that is only present in elderly people. The fact that it is not common in younger people merely points to the fact that it takes time to develop. Being overweight can speed up one’s risk of developing the disease.

The study was lead by Dr. Frank W. Roemer, an adjunct associate professor at Boston University and co-director of the quantitative imaging center in the department of radiology at Boston University School of Medicine. Being overweight was associated with rapid cartilage loss, Roemer’s team found. In fact, for every one-unit increase in body mass index, the chances of rapid cartilage loss increased 11 percent.

The association between obesity and rapid cartilage loss remained even after taking into account age, gender and ethnic background.

“We know that weight loss is probably the most important factor to slow disease progression,” Roemer said. “Additional studies will have to show if other measures, such as vitamins or targeted treatment of bone marrow lesions, will help to slow progression,” he said.

“Don’t let yourself get heavy,” Scully said. “This study shows a direct correlation — people who are heavy are the ones that are getting worse,” he said.