As we age knee pain seems to be a given. “Artha” and the “ritis” brothers seem to want to take control. When visiting your health care provider, many will order an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) test to help diagnosis the cause of the knee pain. A recent study in the British Medical Journal looked at the prevalence of abnormal findings on MRI exams and knee pain in older patients. 700 randomly selected patients older than 50 were examined. 30% reported knee pain within the past year. 90% of the patients had abnormal finding both in those with and without knee pain. Therefore an MRI may not be able to definitely tell why those knees are aching. What can you do for aching knees? Stay active! Even with arthritis, a plant based diet, weight loss and increasing physical activity provide the best lifestyle approach to staying mobile and independent as we become, “less young.”