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People
with Arthritis Can Exercise More
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.
Article Source: Reuters Health
Article Author: Charnicia E. Huggins
Net Reference 89
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