4.5: OSTEOARTHRITIS

The appearance of osteoarthritis in skeletal remains from the Neolithic has been attributed to the repetitive loading of articular joints due to the manual labor associated with early agricultural production (Larsen 2014). In modern populations, overweight and obesity are major contributing factors to arthritis, due not only to the overloading of joints that comes with excess weight (Guilak 2011) but also to the action of fat cells that generate low-level inflammation in response to high levels of glucose in the blood (Issa and Griffin 2012). Meaning, diabetes is a risk factor for osteoarthritis (Berenbaum 2011). A high percentage of obese individuals with knee osteoarthritis are sedentary, suggesting lack of physical activity may increase susceptibility to inflammation (Issa and Griffin 2012). Again, excess body weight and lack of physical activity are a mismatch for Stone Age bodies making their way in the space age (Eaton et al. 1988).