Researchers at Severance Hospital have found a correlation between knee pain and hypercholesterolemia.
Few studies reported the relationship between knee pain and high cholesterol, and the new finding is expected to provide the key to treating arthritis without surgery, the hospital said Wednesday.
The research team, led by Professors Park Kwan-kyu and Cho Byung-woo from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, discovered the correlation between the two factors on Koreans aged 60 and more, using the Korea National Health and the Nutrition Examination Survey from 2010-2013.
Researchers analyzed the prevalence of about 35.5 million people 60 years and older. They compared the subjects using logistic regression analysis with various metabolic diseases, including hypercholesterolemia, hypo-HDL-cholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension and diabetes, according to the hospital.
The result showed that 29.9 percent or 10,630,836 people expressed knee pain. In particular, 8,119,372 patients, or 40 percent, with knee arthritis or with radiographic arthritis grade two or higher expressed knee pain. Among subjects with various metabolic diseases, the team found that people over 60 experienced sharper knee pain when they had hypercholesterolemia.
Those with high cholesterol had a 24 percent more chance of having painful knees than those who do not. However, metabolic disease patients without arthritis did not show a relation with knee pain.
The team had adjusted several factors such as gender, age, body mass index, residential district results, income, consumption of alcohol, and more. When the team compared patients setting them into normal, controlled, and uncontrolled hypercholesterolemia groups, it did not affect the level of knee pain.
“There had been few discoveries regarding the relationship between metabolic disease and knee pain in humans, although animal testing has shown arthritis is related to internal metabolic diseases,” Professor Park said. “We could find the correlation of hypercholesterolemia and knee pain.”
Professor Cho also said, “We expect the new finding to become the key to finding a non-surgical treatment for arthritis, letting people understand the basis of arthritis pain.”