Weight Loss Diet Not Needed With Exercise for Hip OA Pain
Overweight and obesity are considered risk factors for hip OA, yet there are conflicting data on whether weight loss reduces the need for hip joint replacement, researchers wrote in their August 4, 2025, report published in Annals of Internal Medicine .
In this study, researchers randomly assigned 101 people in Australia with a BMI above 27 to either 1) a dietitian-supported ketogenic very low-calorie diet plus a home-based exercise program supported by regular physiotherapy consultations or 2) the exercise program alone for 6 months .
All the participants were aged 50 years or older, had experienced significant hip pain for at least 3 months, and had radiographic evidence of femoral or acetabular osteophytes and joint space narrowing.
Despite the very-low-calorie-diet group losing a mean 8.5% more body weight than the exercise-only group, the study found no significant difference between the two groups in the primary outcome of hip pain severity at 6 or 12 months.
However, both groups did show a clinically significant reduction in hip pain severity at 6 months: a 2-point reduction on an 11-point scale in the exercise-only group and 2.8-point reduction in the diet plus exercise group. More people in the diet-plus-exercise group achieved a clinically relevant reduction in hip pain severity at 6 months than in the exercise-only group.
The study also found that those in the diet group had greater improvements in hip-related quality of life at 6 months compared to the exercise-only group, which persisted to 12 months.
Physiotherapist and study co-author Kim Bennell, PhD, director of the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine at the University of Melbourne, Australia, said while the association between weight and symptoms or progression was strong with knee OA, there hadn't been many high-quality randomized controlled trials of weight loss for hip OA.
'The knee is not the hip; you can't necessarily generalize results from the knee to the hip,' Bennell told Medscape . 'We thought that it may not be as effective as you find at the knee because there may be different factors driving at the hip; biomechanical factors might be more important.'
Could the Results Direct Patients to Seek Surgery Sooner?
An accompanying editorial by rheumatologist Gillian Hawker, MD, of Women's College Hospital in Toronto and exercise physiologist Kristine Godziuk, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, raised the question of whether the use of pharmacotherapies for weight loss, such as the GLP-1 receptor agonists, might influence outcomes through changes in body composition.
Bennell said further studies were needed to explore whether greater weight loss than was achieved in this study might have led to better outcomes and over a longer period.
Commenting on the findings, rheumatologist Nancy E. Lane, MD, endowed professor of medicine and rheumatology and director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Health at UC Davis Health, Sacramento, California, said hip OA was much more related to underlying structural abnormalities than other forms of OA.
'There's no therapy that can make it better, because the hip joint, the shape of the hip — either the femoral head or the acetabular cup — is off and it's worn out,' Lane said to Medscape . 'There's no therapy for osteoarthritis of the hip, once it becomes painful.'
While weight loss would help to place less stress on the joint, it is a much smaller issue than for other joints, and being overweight in and of itself is not a risk factor for hip replacement, Lane said.
'It was really important to know that this type of exercise and weight loss wasn't going to have an effect on the hip,' she said, pointing out that this knowledge might help people with hip OA to get surgical treatment sooner, rather than being told to lose weight first. 'But to be very clear, that that's not the case in other joints, such as the knee, where these interventions make a difference,' she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
How Aussie farmers are turning the tide on $4.43 billion weed problem
Determined Aussie farmers are turning the tide on a pesky problem that is plaguing their crops and costing growers an estimated $4.43 billion every year. From council reserves to backyard gardens, weeds have received a lot of attention in recent years due to their ability to spread rapidly, strangle native plants and harm wildlife. Now, grain and cotton growers across the country are fighting back — and winning. According to a new report released by the CSIRO on Monday night, on average, weeds cost grain producers $4.3 billion a year — a seven per cent increase in costs compared to 10 years ago — but they are reaping the rewards of their investment. Grain producers drastically reduce impact of weeds on crop yield By focusing on 'smarter, long-term management strategies', farmers have been able to drastically reduce the impact of weeds on crop yield from 2.8 million tonnes in 2016 to 1.2 million tonnes in 2025. Their efforts, including harvest weed seed control, crop rotation and using new technologies such as camera-guided herbicide spraying, have led to higher production and therefore a higher income. 'Weed control remains one of the biggest annual costs for growers, but the investment is paying off,' said Dr Rick Llewellyn, a CSIRO research scientist who co-authored the report led by Jackie Ouzman. 'By staying ahead of the weed seed bank, resistance and adopting smarter, more targeted practices, growers are protecting long-term profitability and enabling flexibility in their system.' Improved summer fallow weed control — the removal of weeds that grow when a field is intentionally left uncultivated between cropping seasons — has helped tremendously, CSIRO reports. The method conserves moisture in the soil to better support crops in the drier seasons, and is a 'critical part of climate adaption', Dr Llewellyn said. 'With increasingly variable rainfall and larger cropping programs, growers need to sow crops when conditions are right without delays for weed control,' he said. 🌸 Warning not to touch invasive weed 'growing everywhere' in Aussie suburb 🚙 Alert issued to residents, travellers after dangerous find on side of roads 🌱 Common roadside plant wreaking havoc in Australia: 'Shocking way to die' Cotton industry forks out $145 million annually on weeds The cotton industry is also forking out $145 million annually on weeds, with growers shown to invest heavily in keeping densities exceptionally low, the study, which was funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC), states. While new threats continue to emerge locally, across the country the most costly weeds remain the same: ryegrass, brome grass, sow thistle, wild radish and wild oats. The costliest weeds that emerge between cropping seasons are melons, heliotrope and fleabane. Dr Llewellyn said while Aussie farmers are leading the way for weed management globally, there needs to be continued research into how to 'stay ahead' while also reducing the costs for both industries. 'The only reason we're not seeing widespread yield losses from weeds today is because of years of sustained research and grower innovation,' he said. 'This is a quiet success story, but it's a battle where you can't pause — the weed challenge keeps evolving and demanding new solutions.' To do so, the GRDC is reinvesting in a five-year, $47 million Weed Management Initiative, which will support more than 20 weed research scientists, as well as 12 new PhD student scholarships. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Medscape
8 hours ago
- Medscape
Weight Loss Diet Not Needed With Exercise for Hip OA Pain
A very-low-calorie diet and weight loss combined with exercise does not appear to offer any greater reductions in hip osteoarthritis (OA) pain compared to exercise alone, even in people who are overweight or obese. Overweight and obesity are considered risk factors for hip OA, yet there are conflicting data on whether weight loss reduces the need for hip joint replacement, researchers wrote in their August 4, 2025, report published in Annals of Internal Medicine . In this study, researchers randomly assigned 101 people in Australia with a BMI above 27 to either 1) a dietitian-supported ketogenic very low-calorie diet plus a home-based exercise program supported by regular physiotherapy consultations or 2) the exercise program alone for 6 months . All the participants were aged 50 years or older, had experienced significant hip pain for at least 3 months, and had radiographic evidence of femoral or acetabular osteophytes and joint space narrowing. Despite the very-low-calorie-diet group losing a mean 8.5% more body weight than the exercise-only group, the study found no significant difference between the two groups in the primary outcome of hip pain severity at 6 or 12 months. However, both groups did show a clinically significant reduction in hip pain severity at 6 months: a 2-point reduction on an 11-point scale in the exercise-only group and 2.8-point reduction in the diet plus exercise group. More people in the diet-plus-exercise group achieved a clinically relevant reduction in hip pain severity at 6 months than in the exercise-only group. The study also found that those in the diet group had greater improvements in hip-related quality of life at 6 months compared to the exercise-only group, which persisted to 12 months. Physiotherapist and study co-author Kim Bennell, PhD, director of the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine at the University of Melbourne, Australia, said while the association between weight and symptoms or progression was strong with knee OA, there hadn't been many high-quality randomized controlled trials of weight loss for hip OA. 'The knee is not the hip; you can't necessarily generalize results from the knee to the hip,' Bennell told Medscape . 'We thought that it may not be as effective as you find at the knee because there may be different factors driving at the hip; biomechanical factors might be more important.' Could the Results Direct Patients to Seek Surgery Sooner? An accompanying editorial by rheumatologist Gillian Hawker, MD, of Women's College Hospital in Toronto and exercise physiologist Kristine Godziuk, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, raised the question of whether the use of pharmacotherapies for weight loss, such as the GLP-1 receptor agonists, might influence outcomes through changes in body composition. Bennell said further studies were needed to explore whether greater weight loss than was achieved in this study might have led to better outcomes and over a longer period. Commenting on the findings, rheumatologist Nancy E. Lane, MD, endowed professor of medicine and rheumatology and director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Health at UC Davis Health, Sacramento, California, said hip OA was much more related to underlying structural abnormalities than other forms of OA. 'There's no therapy that can make it better, because the hip joint, the shape of the hip — either the femoral head or the acetabular cup — is off and it's worn out,' Lane said to Medscape . 'There's no therapy for osteoarthritis of the hip, once it becomes painful.' While weight loss would help to place less stress on the joint, it is a much smaller issue than for other joints, and being overweight in and of itself is not a risk factor for hip replacement, Lane said. 'It was really important to know that this type of exercise and weight loss wasn't going to have an effect on the hip,' she said, pointing out that this knowledge might help people with hip OA to get surgical treatment sooner, rather than being told to lose weight first. 'But to be very clear, that that's not the case in other joints, such as the knee, where these interventions make a difference,' she said.
Gizmodo
9 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Diet Swap Study Reveals How Ultra-Processed Foods Can Derail Weight Loss
In case you needed more incentive to cut down on ultra-processed foods, a new diet swap study out today reveals that people experienced greater weight loss while eating minimally processed foods than they did when they ate a nutritionally similar, ultra-processed diet. In a six-month trial led by scientists at University College London, study participants were assigned one of the two diet regimes to follow for eight weeks, and then took a four week break before swapping to the other diet for another eight weeks. Participants lost more weight while eating the minimally processed diet than the ultra-processed one; they also shed more unhealthy fat. The findings, published Monday in Nature Medicine, suggest that, among other things, ultra-processed diets are especially good at stoking people's food cravings, the researchers said. Ultra-Processed Foods Have Disturbing Health Effects, Large Review Finds Although there is some debate over what constitutes an ultra-processed food, there are generally considered products or ingredients that have gone through high levels of industrialized processing, like breakfast sausages, candy, or sodas. There is a growing mountain of evidence that suggests a diet rich in ultra-processed foods is less healthy overall than a diet made up of mostly whole foods, and that ultra-processed foods may raise the risk of certain diseases. Most of this research, however, only shows a correlation between ultra-processed diets and poorer health outcomes, and not a direct cause-and-effect link. Clinical trials can provide stronger evidence, but they're notoriously difficult to do in the world of nutrition science for many reasons, particularly funding, the researchers said. A New Diet Study Confirms Your Worst Suspicions About Ultra-Processed Foods The results highlight the importance of following government dietary guidelines, Dicken said. But the study also indicates that people who want to lose weight may see the most benefit from sticking to minimally processed foods. As to why the ultra-processed foods are worse for dieting, the researchers have their educated guesses. Ultra-processed foods tend to have more appealing textures and artificially boosted flavors, which often means they are softer or easier to eat, and tastier. Their appearance and packaging might also make them more visually appealing to potential customers. Interestingly, the volunteers in this study reported that both diets were equally satisfying to eat on average, but they also reported having better control over their cravings while on the minimally processed diet. Dicken noted that the researchers weren't able to directly test these potential explanations in this trial, though, so more research is needed to know for sure. The team has already launched their next study, which is testing out a behavioral support program to reduce people's intake of ultra-processed foods. But Dicken cautioned that it will take widespread societal shifts, not individual scolding, to change our collective diets for the better.
