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2023-10-20 14:25:25 -05:00

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import Article from "@/components/Article";
import { Metadata } from "next";
export const metadata: Metadata = {
title: "Article - Arthritis and Exercise | Dr. Feely",
authors: [{ name: "Richard A. Feely, D.O., FAAO, FCA, FAAMA" }],
description: `In the 1980's the idea of including exercise as part of a
treatment plan was seen as a radical approach to the management of arthritis.`,
};
const ArticleArthritisAndExercise = () => {
return (
<Article
title="Arthritis and Exercise"
author="Richard A. Feely, D.O., FAAO, FCA, FAAMA"
>
<p>
In the 1980's the idea of including exercise as part of a treatment plan
was seen as a radical approach to the management of arthritis.
</p>
<p>
Marion Minor, PhD, thought otherwise. In 1989 she conducted a study with
120 arthritic patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The
patients were randomly assigned to aerobic walking, aerobic aquatics, or
to a control group of nonaerobic range of motion exercises. The duration
of the study was for 12 weeks.
</p>
<p>
The results showed that the aquatics and walking exercise groups showed
significant improvement over the control group in their capacitiy to do
aerobics, 50-foot walking time, depression, anxiety, and physical
activity after the 12-week program.
</p>
<p>
“Participants said that they were gaining back control on their lives,
and not subject to the whim of the disease,” Minor said. “This provides
a good prototype for self-management and problem-solving, the types of
things that can further improve the condition of people with arthritis.”
(1)
</p>
<p>
Around the same time in Denmark researchers were also looking into
physical training as a way of helping rheumatoid arthritis patients.
They looked at a graduated exercises going from 2 times per week of
aerobics and strengthening exercises to eventually progressing to
strenuous exercises over an 8-week period.
</p>
<p>
The results were encouraging in this study also. The patients had
significantly fewer swollen joints than before. Exercising the muscles
of the swollen joints resulted in more than a 35% decrease in the number
of swollen joints. (2) The Denmark study showed that improving muscle
strength also improved the affected joint. This was further confirmed in
other studies.
</p>
<p>
One particular study looked at the effect of strengthening the knee
muscles of patients with arthritis of the knee joint. In this trial 20
volunteers with knee joint arthritis were randomly assigned to a
treatment group (10 people) or to a control group (10 people). The
treatment group completed six sets of five strong contractions three
times per week for a period of 8 weeks.
</p>
<p>
At the end of the study the treatment group as compared to the control
group showed a a significant decrease in pain and stiffness and a
significant increase in the ability to move. There was also a
significant decline in the Osteoarthritis Screening Index and the
Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale. (3)
</p>
<p>
Other areas of exercise therapy for arthritis have also been
investigated. One such area was to determine whether high or low
intensity exercises were more effective.
</p>
<p>
100 patients with moderately severe rheumatoid arthritis were randomly
assigned to (a) intensive group exercises that included full weight
bearing and also conditioning exercises on a stationary bike; (b) range
of motion exercises and isometric exercises group; (c) individual
isometric and range of motion; and (d) home instructions for isometric
and range of motion exercises. The study ran for 12 weeks.
</p>
<p>
There was about a 17% increase in aerobic capacity strength and joint
mobility in the high intensity exercise as compared to the other
exercise groups. When the patients stopped their exercise training
whatever gains they had achieved in physical capacity disappeared.(4)
</p>
<p>
In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
researchers looked at whether a structured exercise program would help
older people with arthritis of the knee. 439 adults, aged 60 or older,
took part in either an aerobic exercise program, a resistance exercise
program, and a health education program. 83% of the people completed the
18 month study.
</p>
<p>
The results showed that the aerobic exercise group had 10% lower scores
on the physical disability questionnaire, a 12% lower score on the knee
pain questionnaire, improved performance on the 6-minute walk test, and
also had improved the time it took to carry 10 pounds as compared to the
health education group. The resistance exercise group also showed
improvements but not as good as the aerobic exercise group. (5)
</p>
<p>
Even though exercise is now considered standard treatment for arthritis
it is not widely prescribed. In a study involving 110 elderly persons
with chronic hip and knee pain, fewer than half had received the medical
advice to exercise. Arthritis specialists did much better in prescribing
exercise than the primary care physician. Further, those patients who
were told to exercise by their physician were making an attempt to do so
but only 10% were doing the exercises in a way that would be
therapeutic. (6)
</p>
<p>
<strong>References:</strong>
</p>
<p>
(1) Efficacy of physical conditioning exercise in patients with
rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Minor MA, Hewett JE, Webel RR,
Anderson SK, Kay DR. Arthritis Rheum 1989 Nov;32(11):1396-1405
</p>
<p>
(2) The effect of physical training on patients with rheumatoid
arthritis: changes in disease activity, muscle strength and aerobic
capacity. A clinically controlled minimized cross-over study. Lyngberg
K, Danneskiold-Samsoe B, Halskov O. Clin Exp Rheumatol 1988
Jul;6(3):253-260
</p>
<p>
(3) Effects of muscle-strength training on the functional status of
patients with osteoarthritis of the knee joint. Schilke JM, Johnson GO,
Housh TJ, O'Dell JR. Nurs Res 1996 Mar;45(2):68-72
</p>
<p>
(4) Comparison of high and low intensity training in well controlled
rheumatoid arthritis. Results of a randomised clinical trial. van den
Ende CH, Hazes JM, le Cessie S, Mulder WJ, Belfor DG, Breedveld FC,
Dijkmans BA. Ann Rheum Dis 1996 Nov;55(11):798-805
</p>
<p>
(5) A randomized trial comparing aerobic exercise and resistance
exercise with a health education program in older adults with knee
osteoarthritis. The Fitness Arthritis and Seniors Trial. Ettinger WH Jr,
Burns R, Messier SP, Applegate W, Rejeski WJ, Morgan T, Shumaker S,
Berry MJ, O'Toole M, Monu J, Craven T. JAMA 1997 Jan 1;277(1):25-31
</p>
<p>
(6) Joint exercises in elderly persons with symptomatic osteoarthritis
of the hip or knee. Performance patterns, medical support patterns, and
the relationship between exercising and medical care. Dexter PA.
Arthritis Care Res 1992 Mar;5(1):36-41
</p>
</Article>
);
};
export default ArticleArthritisAndExercise;