Why women are more prone to knee injuries than men Essay

Why women are more prone to knee injuries than men - Essay Example Knee injury or disease, therefore, can be badly crippling .(Thibodeau 223). A women's work is never done! So goes the age-old saying. Although in today's world there are many labor-saving devices, the modern woman often carries responsibilities involving long hours of duty. Women employed in industry or with major home-care responsibilities can be involved in a variety of tasks requiring strong mental, physical, emotional and social abilities. For many, additional burdens exist. Te career woman with a family, the pregnant woman with several children, the woman caring for a disabled child or an ageing parent and the wife and mother confined to a wheelchair are all faced with the challenges of coping with prolonged demands on both their energy and time. Some traditionally female jobs in the workforce are also susceptible to special stresses (Sapsford 268). The knee joint is the major weight-bearing joint of the body. Any condition, which interferes with the smooth articulation of the joint, leads to instability and rapid wasting of the quadriceps muscle (Anne 548). Cancellous bone loss begins between the ages of 30 and 35 with yearly decrease in women of 0.6 % to 0.8 % (Linear decrease) or 2.4 % (curvilinear decrease). Age-related cancellous loses in women appear to begin up to a decade earlier than cortical bone loss. Women may lose 50% of cancellous and 30 % of cortical bone over their life times, whereas men may lose only 30 % and 20 % respectively. In addition, women may have an increased risk for osteoporosis because throughout life they have 30 % less bone mass than men of a similar age (Kimble 48.28). Throughout its life bone can respond to external forces (or loads) such as the pull of tendon on bone and weight bearing. These forces can help to maintain bone mass or increase it in some circumstances. As a living tissue, bone material is constantly being turned over in a process called bone remodeling. In this process old bone is resorbed and new bone is formed. Many internal factors dictate the effectiveness of the remodeling process. These can include ageing, hormonal influences, metabolic variations and certain disease processes. Bone is most sensitive to mechanical loading during childhood (Sapsford 134). An increase in osteoblastic activity and thus in bone mass can result from the external forces (or loads) mentioned. Without these forces osteoclast activity (bone resorption) predominates and bone mass decreases (Norkin and Levangie, 1992). If the breakdown or resorption of bone (osteoclastic activity) then decreased bone density or osteopenia will occur. If this process con tinues unchecked it can lead to osteoporosis. Osteoporotic bone is more likely to fracture than bone of normal density (Sapsford 412). Osteoporosis in a major health problem that affects over 9.4 million people on the United States and is especially prevalent among postmenopausal women. The incidence osteoporosis increases with age; 30 percentage of women between the ages of 70 and 79 and 70 percentage of women 80 years of age or older develop osteoporosis without medical intervention (Kimble 48.30). There is much grater risk of women developing osteoporosis than men. Suggested reasons for this include the fact that after menopause women have period of rapid bone loss as a result of a sharp fall in oestrogen levels as overian function ceases. Up to 15 % of bone can be