The Arthritis Foundation offers new hope for reducing symptoms of Osteoarthritis, OA, in people who are overweight. OA causes joint cartilage to disintegrate, breaking down the protective cushion between bone -- causing damage and pain. Roughly 27 million people in the U.S. suffer from the disabling symptoms of OA, which is often caused by age, heredity, injury, and lifestyle factors, such as obesity.

Twenty percent of Americans have arthritis, and the statistics rise over ten percent when obesity is a factor. Remarkably, fat is a functioning tissue and in addition to joint stress due to obesity, new research has discovered fat induces the body to release chemicals which are specifically inflammatory – adding further risk factors for arthritis and inflammation related diseases. Dr. Jeffrey Katz, a professor of medicine and orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School, confirms inflammation is a factor that can influence the development of OA.

Progressive studies find that obesity -- a detriment to the mechanics of the body -- puts extra weight on joints, causing stress, and damage -- that over time cause them to break down. Dr. Eric Matteson, a representative for the Mayo Clinic rheumatology department, explains, “Weight plays an important role in joint stress, so when people are overweight, it puts stress on their joints, especially their weight-bearing joints, like the knees and the hips."

New statistics published by The Arthritis Foundation show that, for each excess pound of weight, an additional 4 pounds of pressure is transferred to the knees. They are hopeful this break-through will encourage people to maintain a healthy body mass index -- the math is easy, and shows the significance of maintaining a healthy weight.

For example, only 10 excess pounds actually adds 40 pounds of pressure, and 100 pounds of unhealthy weight pushes an astounding 400 pounds on the knee joints. “So if you think about all the steps you take in a day, you can see why it would lead to premature damage in weight-bearing joints -- the additional weight causes even more problems on already damaged joints," Dr. Matteson added.

Experts at Weight Loss Guide, a natural health and wellness community, understand the challenges involved in weight reduction. Find encouragement and support toward developing healthy eating behaviors and take control of health related symptoms of obesity at http://www.weightlossguide.com/obesity-and-arthritis.