[Azell] "I ran track in high school. And I did pretty good.

I was New England champ, Reggie champ, state champ, and I ran quite a bit up until my fifties ... late fifties ...

I would run, played golf, that type of thing."

[Dr. Tomek] "Knee osteoarthritis happens when the bones that come together to form the knee lose the cartilage that normally covers them.

Normally the end of the femur, the tibia, and the kneecap ... which would be right here are covered by a thin cartilage layer that allows the knee to move and glide smoothly.

And whether through accident or broken bones or simply age and use, when that cartilage starts to wear down, that's what we call osteoarthritis."

[Bill] "The first time the pain started in my knees was ...

I remember I was celebrating my 50th birthday.

We were climbing down from Mount Washington.

We'd go up there in February with a bottle of cherry brandy to celebrate George's birthday.

And I remember coming down the mountain and my knees were just hurting.

They had hurt before but never, never like this."

[Dr. Tomek] "Early on this may result in pain and aching in the knee.

At times it progresses and is accompanied by deformity of the knee, either a knock-kneed or a bowlegged deformity, and swelling of the knee ...

where the knee is warm and swollen and puffy."

[Azell] "And then I started feeling, you know, a little pain, and my knee would swell up.

But I kept running, you know, thinking it was age."

[Dr. Tomek] "Certain people seem to be more prone to developing osteoarthritis.

Some people may be genetically inclined to get it.

Other people get it as part of their occupation, perhaps part of sports they played in high school and injuries they sustained along the way."