Can osteoarthritis in hip and / or knee cause heart disease?

[chickeninthewood]

I have read with alarm that OA can cause cardiovascular disease. This does not seem to have been mentioned much before. Can it be true? A bit alarming if it is.

[Hidden]

Hi what’s the source of your information and can it be relied on? That will answer your question in the main regards how much you rely on this being the “truth”.

[chickeninthewood in reply to Hidden]

arthritis.org/health-wellne....

[Hidden in reply to chickeninthewood]

I think reading the article shows common risk factors like obesity, high blood pressure and others so could be coincidental rather cause? But there’s not much in that site / article to place reliance on it’s validity. I.e. what the actual research was, what prominent medical experts were involved etc. this helps with understanding how reliable the information is.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

There have been a number of reputable retrospective meta-analyses of past studies into heart disease. If you google for link between osteoarthritis and cardiovascular disease, they all pop up. As per my reply below, there is no proven causative factor between the two, but those with OA do have an increased risk. Whether that’s directly causative or just correlative hasn’t been determined as yet, however, I suspect it’s more likely to indicate a common underlying mechanism rather than a direct link purely due to the incidence of OA post the age of 65, and the prevalence in younger athletes and former athletes.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, I was just commenting on the source the OP shared, the ones you refer to would no doubt provide more assurance in their validity (I’ve been doing a lot of research into my own heart issues and thanks to advice on here on how to determine what’s reliable and what may not be found a great deal of said meta analysis and their drawn conclusions and will be helpful to share with cardiologist) just didn’t think the one the OP Linked fell within this category. I have OA in the knees joints. I also have CAD.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Like this?

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Or

academic.oup.com/eurjpc/art...

[Hidden]

With the caveat that I’m not medically qualified. The presence of OA is statistically associated with an increased risk of someone having cardiovascular disease, including angina, heart attack, and stroke, but it’s not considered causative at this point. Partly because, by the age of 65, almost 80% of people will have evidence of OA on imaging: if it was definitively causative, the rates of CVD would be a lot higher than they are. The papers to date have been observational meta-analysis of past studies, so much more research is required to better understand if the two are directly related, but it may be that the presence of OA indicates an underlying biological process or genetic predisposition where CVD may become more likely.

[RufusScamp]

I am no medic, but it occurs to me there might be a connection with rheumatoid arthritis rather than osteo-.

[Lala49]

This is really freaky reading this, this morning. My right hip is giving me so much agro I now have a stick and an x Ray booked. X

[Neil2566]

I started writing a long reply after reading the link but changed my mind to this.

Utter nonsense.

I had a heart attack and triple bypass at 34 (2000) in the years after I got myself extremely fit and in 2017 I had a knee injury which highlighted OA in my left knee and now I have grade 4 OA meaning No cartilage behind my kneecap.

Your heart isn’t a bone or a joint which is what Osteoarthritis actually means.

[Raznic]

Interesting. I've never heard of this but it piqued my interest as I had both knees replaced due to OA years ago, and subsequently developed AF, VF, and heart failure. Now living with a CRT pacemaker and not doing too badly at all. This "connection" has never been made to me.

[xmland]

I have both, such is life

[spinningjenny]

I have a vague recollection that inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis in childhood can affect the heart but as far as I am aware, arthritis in adulthood is rather different and doesn’t cause heart issues.

[Nuttyshirlz]

I think all illnesses have affect on your organs, yes if you overweight it’s going to affect your heart etc you don’t need arthritis for it to affect you. Having arthritis means you can’t be as fit which is going to put pressure on body joints no I’m not a dr but I do have arthritis and I have a losing battle with it trying to stop putting weight on it. Arthritis in knees and hips means I can’t walk far. But if you read any medication or illness you probably find that most say it. Basically they covering all angles lol

[wischo]

Could having arthritis cause less physical activity and hence more heart disease, or just a sign your getting older and almost all older people have some degree of heart disease or plaque anyway. Either way unless its obviously damaging reading too many of these articles only cause more concern for heart patients so forget them and enjoy your life.

[chickeninthewood]

OA can be caused by being overweight and / or excess weight bearing, lifting etc. I think the medical profession are aware that if patients have a hip or a knee replacement they will then (after physio and doing their post op exercises correctly and attaining a healthy weight) be able to walk properly and easily. Walking seems to be the thing that keeps many people fit and heart disease free. I had a hip replacement ten years ago and was able to walk properly again - so far no heart disease detected but a few PVCs. I think in my case I need to keep walking!

[Jetcat]

It may be something to do with inflammation possibly.?

[Pollypuss]

I can only tell you of my own experience. Before my bypass I was diagnosed with “calcified shoulder problems”after an X-ray - it meant using my shoulders /arms to reach behind my back was very painful. After my bypass I suddenly realised one day that that the pain no longer existed . Very mysterious

[chickeninthewood]

Mine was caused by lifting my disabled son who had an accident age 15. For years and year we have been his carer and it takes its toll on your body. I was overweight at one time too which didn't help but I am convinced if I had had a more "normal" life without the heavy lifting multiple times a day and night, I would not have got arthritis - or at least not so badly. I don't regret it as we love him but it unfortunately injured me too!