Effect of lifestyle factors on knee cartilage volume and rate of cartilage loss in a normal population

世界卫生组织将骨关节炎（OA）描述为一种潜在的流行病，也是老龄化社会中主要的卫生和保健服务成本驱动因素。OA对后期生活中疾病负担的影响最大。这一点已被列为澳大利亚第七大卫生优先事项。迄今为止，大多数研究都集中在治疗由此产生的疼痛和残疾上。然而，为了减轻OA的负担，确定正常人群中可改变的危险因素是很重要的。本研究旨在确定影响健康受试者膝关节软骨健康的生活方式因素，如饮食、体育活动和肥胖，从而确定未来预防OA的潜在靶点。这将使我们有机会促进人们随着年龄增长而提高生活质量，并减轻社会的经济负担。

Osteoarthritis (OA) has been described by the WHO as a potential epidemic and a major health and care services cost driver in an aging society. OA has the largest impact on burden of disease borne in later life. This has been acknowledged by its listing as the 7th health priority in Australia. To date, most research has focused on treating the resulting pain and disability. However, in order to reduce the burden of OA, identifying modifiable risk factors in the normal population is important. This proposal aims to identify life-style factors, such as diet, physical activity and obesity that effect knee cartilage health in healthy subjects, thereby identifying potential targets for future prevention of OA. This will provide us with the opportunity to promote a better quality of life as people age and reduce the economic burden on the community.