A call for a focus on exercise and physical treatment, not drugs, to help patients with knee problems

Otago University researchers are projecting costs associated with the knee osteoarthritis will nearly double to 370-million-dollars by 2038.

Dr Ross Wilson says he thinks there's too much reliance on drugs as a treatment.

He says that's partly because people in pain naturally want to target it directly.

Wilson says earlier physical intervention might help reduce underlying causes of osteoarthritis - like aging and obesity.