RESEARCH - Vigorous activity may lessen arthritis disability

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Vigorous activity may lessen arthritis disability

Last Updated: 2005-04-15 9:03:45 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older people with arthritis are more likely to

hang on to good physical function if they exercise on a regular basis, a new

study suggests.

In a two-year study of more than 5,700 older adults with arthritis,

researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago found that men and women

who were consistently active were less likely to develop physical

limitations that interfered with their day-to-day lives.

Adults who did not get regular, vigorous exercise -- which included nearly

two-thirds of the study population -- had twice the risk of functional

decline as their active peers, the researchers report in the journal

Arthritis & Rheumatism.

Functional decline refers to problems with daily activities such as walking

a short distance, preparing meals, shopping, bathing and dressing. Arthritis

is one of the leading causes of such disabilities among older Americans.

But the new findings suggest that staying active could prevent a good deal

of this physical decline, according to Dr. Dorothy D. Dunlop, the lead

author on the study.

" There's been a myth that people with arthritis shouldn't exercise, " Dunlop

told Reuters Health. To the contrary, she said, this study provides further

evidence of the health benefits of regular activity, even for older people

who are not in the best of physical condition.

Often, Dunlop pointed out, people with arthritis have other health

conditions as well -- as 88 percent of the men and women in her study did.

But exercise, by improving overall physical health, boosting energy and

simply making people feel better, may help older adults maintain their

physical abilities and independence, according to the researcher.

For their study, Dunlop and her colleagues followed 5,715 adults age 65 and

older for two years. At the start of the study, participants were assessed

for functional limitations and a range of medical and lifestyle factors,

including their exercise habits.

Among those who were free of serious limitations at the outset, about 14

percent saw their physical function decline, the researchers found. The risk

of decline was twice as great among men and women who did not exercise

regularly -- even when other factors, such as age, co-existing health

conditions and other lifestyle habits, were weighed.

The researchers asked participants whether they got " vigorous " exercise,

such as playing a sport or doing heavy housework, at least three days a

week. The question, Dunlop said, was designed to get at how many people were

following the general recommendation for adults to get 20 minutes of

vigorous exercise on at least three days out of the week, or 30 minutes of

moderate exercise on most days of the week.

Those minutes, experts say, need not come all together. And for older people

with arthritis, the goal is to " weave physical activity into the daily

routine, " according to Dunlop. That may mean gardening, walking to the store

instead of driving, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

But, she said, it's " always wise " for patients to consult their doctors

before taking up any exercise.

Organizations such as the local chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, Dunlop

noted, may also be able to point older adults to exercise programs in

walking, water aerobics or other activities that are specially designed for

them.

She and her colleagues estimate that if all of the men and women in their

study had gotten regular exercise, it would have prevented one-third of the

cases of functional decline.

SOURCE: Arthritis & Rheumatism, April 2005.

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Mayo Clinic in Rochester

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s Hopkins Medicine

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