Exercise remains an extremely popular leisure-time activity in many countries throughout the Western world and has for many become part of the modern lifestyle. It is widely promoted in the lay press as having salutory benefits for weight control, disease management advantages for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and for improving psychological well being amongst an array of other bene- fits. In contrast, however, the lay press and community perception is also that exercise is potentially deleterious to one’s joints, in particular those of the lower extremities. A previous review in this journal has focused on the effects of exercise on healthy articular cartilage, specifically its functional adaptation to loading, both short and long term (Eckstein et al. 2006). The purpose of the current review is to consider the potential effect of exercise on the onset and progression of joint disease, specifically to:
1 address the question of what osteoarthritis (OA) is;
2 provide an overview of the epidemiology of OA, focusing on validated risk factors for its development, in particular the role of both exercise and occupational activity;