The dangers of smoking are well documented and widely known nowadays. But here’s one you probably didn’t expect:

Men with osteoarthritis in the knee experience more severe painand more loss of cartilage if they smoke.

“This is a novel finding,” said Dr. Shreyasee Amin, a rheumatologist at the Mayo Clinic lead researcher in a new study that will be published online this week in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Knee osteoarthritis is one of the leading causes of disability in older people.

The study involved imaging the knees of 159 men with osteoarthritis and asking them about their pain. On a pain scale with 100 as the highest score, the smokers came in at about 60 on average with the non-smokers at 45.

The researchers don’t know why smoking exacerbates the arthritis. But they suggest some possibilities. Smoking might …

• Disorder cells and inhibit cell proliferation.
• Increase oxidant stress, which contributes to cartilage loss.
• Raise carbon monoxide levels in blood, contributing to tissue hypoxia (insufficient blood oxygenation), which could impair cartilage repair.

As if lung cancer and heart disease are not bad enough, smoking even makes your joints hurt more..

Fact: Depression is common nowadays, not only causing emotional pain, but may even increase knee pain. How is this? One theory is that if we experience pain or stress in one form or another, it reduces our ability to handle pain in another form.

Think about when you are really tired, and your nerves are frayed. They say trouble comes in 3’s, and that can mean that knee problems interact with other health issues.

Well, I hope I haven’t totally bummed you out over all these examples of Murphy’s Law—that things often go wrong—can result in not just knee problems, but other health problems. Or other health problems are related to knee problems.

Self care is the way to go.  If you want to keep your knees healthy, or get back your formerly healthy knees, take good care of your yourself.

The truth is that we actually have a lot more ability to control our health destiny, not just for our knees but also for our whole body—and emotional and even spiritual life.

There are two areas that almost everyone should pay attention to: Weight and Toxins.

To get an honest assessment of where you stand, especially in view of the fact that we are exposed to all kinds of toxins, from pesticide food, to processed foods with lots of unhealthy fats, and even now, clean pure water is hard to find, here is a quiz that can help you see if you are doing ok or not. Remember, it is not just weight, but also toxins accumulated in our bodies over time that can affect your joints, too.

The first step is to recognize that “You Are What You Eat!” Great health starts with a proper body weight. Since most people are overweight nowadays, if you fit into that category, then it’s a good idea to lose weight. And lose it as fast as possible.  Why is that? Because the sooner you lose weight, the faster there is less stress on your knees, not to mention all the other parts of your body affected by extra unwanted pounds or kilos.  The other reason why it is a good idea to lose weight fast, is because–let’s face it–everybody wants fast results.

Who wants to spend days and weeks on a treadmill, and slurping expensive and weird tasting concoctions meant to lose weight, but invariable result in gaining the weight right back? What we need is a program to simplify the whole weight reduction process. Here is an example of what I am talking about.

Ahh….everyone wants a crystal ball. What works for me and how long it takes to recover, or to at least bring your knee issue under control depends on many factors, such as it severity, how diligent you are in implementing the solution, and choosing the right therapy, or right behavioral changes.

If you are on a budget the first thing you should do, is watch your daily activities and avoid doing things that aggravate the situation, such as eating unhealthy food, or exercise that involves impact on your knee. I avoid jumping and wear shoes with lots of cushion, for example.

As you can see, I am over 70 years old, but I have had knee issues since I was 22! I learned fairly early on, that stretching and exercise can strengthen and protect the knee. In my 40’s I learned about knee sleeves, braces and wraps. But the solutions I found out later in life have worked even for people in their 20’s. One dear friend age 27, had a sprain in her early 20’s, and sometimes yoga can cause knee pain. The knee sleeve has helped her, and will probably prevent future problems. That is just one example.

I am not a medical professional, so I can’t give medical advice. What I can say is, “Don’t be a hero”. Don’t think you can ‘power through’ pain. Pain is your body’s ultimate feedback mechanism to either back off, rest, and so on. And, if it’s real bad, what’s called acute pain, or it lasts a long time, what’s called chronic pain, see a Physician, Physical Therapist or other medical professional.