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| |  High-Heeled Shoes May Explain Higher Osteoarthritis Incidence In Women LONDON, ENGLAND -- May 8, 1998 -- Millions of women world-wide wear high heels without being aware that they may be risking arthritis of their knees. Dr. Casey Kerrigan and colleagues from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Harvard Medical School note in an Early Report in this week's issue of The Lancet that osteoarthritis (excessive wear and tear in a joint) of the knee is twice as common in women as it is in men. They suggest that wearing high-heeled shoes may be the cause. The researchers asked 20 fit women, average age 36 years, to walk along a special platform in bare feet and then in shoes with heels of 6 cm (2 1/2 inches). Sensors under the platform and cameras recording the movement of the women's ankle and knee joints allowed the strains on the joints to be measured. The results of these tests showed that when walking in high heels, there was greater strain between the kneecap and the thighbone and in the inner side of the knee joint than when walking barefoot. The finding of increased strain on the inner side of the knee joint is of particular interest, because osteoarthritis is more common on the inner than the outer side of the knee. "The possibility that wearing high-heeled shoes contributes to osteoarthritis of the knee has not been suggested to date," the researchers said. "Our findings suggest that further investigations are needed to evaluate a causal relationship."
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