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Moderate
Lifelong
Exercise OK For Knees
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - Although knee injuries can raise the risk
of developing knee arthritis, the wear and tear of regular exercise
over a lifetime does not set the stage for the debilitating condition,
UK researchers report.
This is important,
they note, as health experts recommend regular physical activity
to help ward off serious conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
At the same time, however, some have worried that high activity
levels may wear on joints and boost the risk of arthritis later
in life.
``Our data
do not support the suggestion that increased use of the knee joint
through moderate sporting and exercise participation wears out
the joint and therefore increases the risk of knee osteoarthritis,''
A.J. Sutton, of the University of Leicester, and colleagues write
in the August issue of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
The researchers
studied the relationship between low and moderate exercise levels
and knee osteoarthritis. Each of 216 patients who reported onset
of arthritis after age 40, with knee pain, swelling or stiffness,
was matched to four people without the condition. Sutton's team
gathered information on participants' sports and exercise participation
for every year of life from age 14 until the time of the interview.
The average age of participants was 57.
The investigators
found that having a previous knee injury was the only factor that
strongly influenced the risk of knee arthritis. These individuals
had an eight-times greater risk of the condition, compared with
those with no prior knee injuries.
Sutton and
his colleagues conclude that the potential health benefits of
regular physical activity ``greatly outweigh'' the risk of developing
knee arthritis.
To help lessen
the risk of sports injuries, Sutton told Reuters Health, individuals
should take simple preventive measures like ``warming up sufficiently
and using the correct equipment.''
SOURCE:
Annals of Rheumatic Diseases 2001;60:756-764.
Reference
Source 89
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