Fears that wearing high-heeled shoes could lead to knee arthritis¹ are unfounded, say researchers.

研究人员称，人们害怕穿高跟鞋会导致膝盖关节炎是没有根据的。

But being overweight, smoking, and having a previous knee injury does increase the risk, the team from Oxford² Brookes University found They looked at more than 100 women aged³ between 50 and 70 waiting for knee surgery, and found that choice of shoes was not a factor.

牛津布鲁克斯大学研究小组发现，肥胖、吸烟或者以前膝盖受过伤会增加得关节炎的危险。他们对年龄在50～70岁之间的100名将要做关节手术的妇女进行了调查，发现鞋子并不是导致关节炎的原因。

The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health.

该研究发表在《流行病学与公共卫生》杂志上。

More than 2% of the population aged over 55 suffers extreme pain as a result of osteoarthritis of the knee.

55岁以上的人群中有超过2%的人忍受着膝盖关节炎带来的极度痛苦。

The condition is twice as common in 65-year-old women as it is in men the same age.

这种情况在65岁的妇女中发生的几率是同龄男性的两倍。

Women’s and men’s knees are not biologically different, so the researchers wanted to find out why twice as many women as men develop osteoarthritis in the joint⁴.

女性和男性的膝盖在生理上并没有什么不同，所以研究者们想知道为什么患关节炎的女性人数是男性的两倍。

Some researchers have speculated that high-heeled shoes may be to blame.

有研究者推测高跟鞋可能是罪魁祸首。

The women in the study were quizzed on details of their height and weight when they left school, between 36 and 40 and between 51 and 55.

参加该项研究的妇女们被详细询问了她们在毕业时、36到40岁之间，51到55岁之间的身高和体重。

They were asked about injuries, their jobs, smoking and use of contraceptive hormones⁵.

研究人员还询问了她们的受伤、工作、吸烟和使用避孕激素的情况。

However, while many of these factors were linked to an increased risk over the years, tottering⁶ around in high heels for years was not.

然而，多年来，许多因素都增加了患关节炎的危险，但是常年穿着高跟鞋走路并不是原因之一。