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 JANUARY 31, 2009 Moderate Exercise Is Not Dangerous To Normal Joints Does moderate exercise increase your chances of developing osteoarthritis? No, says a new review of the literature that dispels the common misconception that exercise damages normal joints. Researchers from Boston and Ainring, Germany, reviewed existing studies on the relationship between regular exercise and osteoarthritis. They concluded that, in the absence of existing joint injury, there is no increased risk of osteoarthritis from exercise. Their report appears in the January issue of Journal of Anatomy. Vigorous, low-impact exercise is beneficial in most people for both it's physical and mental benefits, said lead researcher David Hunter MD PhD of New England Baptist Hospital. Low- to moderate-impact exercises include walking, swimming, stair climbing, rowing, and cross-country skiing. The easiest way to reduce your risk of developing knee osteoarthritis is to lose weight. Each additional pound of body weight roughly doubles the load over the knee. So exercising to reduce your weight could, in fact, reduce your risk of osteoarthritis rather than increase it. The researchers did find that elite athletes who perform high-impact activities and place high stress on their joints appear to have an increased risk for osteoarthritis in the hips and knees. Common examples of high-impact exercises include tennis, running, racquetball, squash, and dance exercises. The knee is the joint most commonly affected by symptoms of osteoarthritis, which include pain, swelling, and stiffness. More than 10 million Americans suffer from knee osteoarthritis, the most common cause of disability in the United States. Women are more commonly affected than men. |
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