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People
with Arthritis
Can Exercise More: Study
Excerpt
By Charnicia
E. Huggins,
Reuters Health
While people with arthritis may know
that joint-friendly activities such as walking and gardening can
help reduce their pain and disability, study findings show that
many of them still remain completely inactive.
One possible reason is that such
exercise may initially increase arthritis-related pain, and, in
some cases, arthritis patients had been inappropriately advised
against participating in regular physical activity, according
to the authors of the study. But the new findings show that people
with arthritis can not only exercise regularly but can also meet
national recommendations for the general population.
"Most doctors tell patients to
be active, but people don't know what to do," study author Dr.
Jennifer M. Hootman of the National Center for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion in Atlanta, Georgia, told Reuters
Health.
"People with arthritis should strive
to become more physically active by engaging in moderate intensity
physical activity, such as walking, bicycling or swimming, for
30 minutes a day at least three times per week," Hootman said.
And there's no age requirement
for exercise. A recent study found that even people aged 80 and
older who exercise just a couple of times a week can improve their
health.
Hootman and her team evaluated
physical activity levels and arthritis status among more than
40,000 adults in 35 states who participated in a 2000 nationwide
survey.
Overall, nearly one third of survey
respondents reported having arthritis, and about 31% of them said
they were inactive, in comparison to 26% of people without arthritis,
the researchers report in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Nearly one quarter of people with
arthritis met national recommendations for physical activity,
engaging in moderate-intensity exercise for at least a half hour
per day on most days of the week, study findings indicate.
While this proportion was "a little
more" than Hootman expected, she stressed that they didn't meet
the national recommendation by participating in high-impact, vigorous
activity, but rather through moderate activity such as walking,
gardening and swimming. "That's good," she said, "That's what
we want."
However, more than one in three
arthritic women, people aged 45 and older, non-white individuals,
obese people and people with a high school education or less,
respectively, said they did not participate in any leisure-time
physical activity. Among those without arthritis, such a high
level of inactivity was true only for people aged 75 or older,
study findings indicate.
Identifying these more inactive
groups may lead to tailor-made programs that address their specific
needs, according to Hootman.
Forty-three million people in the
US have arthritis, which is a leading case of disability.
According to Hootman, the Arthritis
Foundation currently offers two physical activity programs that
have been shown to improve arthritis symptoms--a water-based Aquatics
Program and a land-based program, "People with Arthritis Can Exercise
(PACE)."
For more information on these programs
contact the Arthritis Foundation at 1-800-283-7800 or visit the
foundation online at www.arthritis.org.
SOURCE: Arthritis Care & Research
2003;19:129-135.
Reference
Source 89
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