A promising new study suggests that
walking could ward off knee pain for people with osteoarthritis.
Researchers surveyed more than 1,000 people ages 50
or older with knee osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis in the
US.
Some had persistent pain at the outset, while others did not. After four years,
those who started off without frequent knee pain and walked for exercise at
least 10 times were less likely to experience new, regular bouts of stiffness
or aches around their knees and had less structural damage in their knees. The
study suggested that people with knee osteoarthritis who are bowlegged might particularly
benefit from walking.
اضافة اعلان
The research offers the potential of an easy — and
free — way to combat one of the most common culprits of knee pain among older
adults.
The findings represent “a paradigm shift,” said Dr
Grace Hsiao-Wei Lo, an assistant professor at
Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston and lead author on the study. “Everyone’s always looking for some kind
of drug. This highlights the importance and likelihood that interventions for
osteoarthritis might be something different, including good old exercise.” The
research suggests that exercise could help manage osteoarthritis in other
joints, she added, including those in the hips, hands, and feet.
Osteoarthritis, sometimes referred to as “wear and
tear” arthritis, affects more than 32.5 million adults in the US and occurs
when the joint cartilage breaks down and the underlying bone begins to change,
according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The risk of
developing the condition increases as you age, and about one-third of people
older than 60 have knee osteoarthritis, Lo said. Many patients take medications
such as ibuprofen or naproxen to treat the pain, she added, which in large
doses can lead to kidney issues and ulcers.
Instead, they may be able to turn to exercise. For
decades, health experts saw walking primarily as a way to boost cardiovascular
health, said Dr Elaine Husni, a rheumatologist at
Cleveland Clinic who was not
involved in the study. In recent years, though, doctors have looked to
low-impact workouts to treat conditions such as depression, cognitive
impairment, and mild osteoarthritis. But the new study shows that walking can
also act as a preventive measure, Lo said, and suggests that people who are at
higher risk of developing the condition may want to incorporate a regular walk
into their routine. For instance, Lo said that, based on her findings, she
should walk more, as her mother has osteoarthritis.
The study began in 2004 and documented participants’
baseline knee pain, using radiographs to assess their osteoarthritis.
Researchers then asked participants to document their exercise habits and
reviewed their symptoms at regular follow-up visits, asking how frequently
their knees hurt.
After four years, 37 percent of the study
participants who did not walk for exercise (not including the occasional trip
to the train or grocery store) developed new, frequent knee pain, compared with
26 percent who did walk.
Of course, researchers cannot definitively say that
walking staved off
knee pain, and it did not appear to lessen existing pain.
Self-assessments can be less accurate than fitness trackers or step counters.
And the researchers did not track the distance or frequency that people walked,
nor did they recommend strategies for how and when people with osteoarthritis
should incorporate walking into their exercise routines.
Still, the results bolster what clinicians already
understand about how to manage osteoarthritis. Consistent movement can help
create muscle mass, strengthening ligaments around the joints that have
osteoarthritis, Husni said. Walking is a low-intensity, low-impact workout,
allowing people to maintain the strength and flexibility that are critical for
healthy joints, she added.
“It’s an intervention that anyone can do,” she said.
“You have no excuse. You can do it anywhere you are.”
Those who are already in pain should be careful to
not overdo exercise, though, said Dr Justen Elbayar, a sports-medicine
specialist in the orthopedic surgery department at
NYU Langone Health who was
also not involved in the study. Walking long distances might exacerbate aches
in some patients with severe arthritis, he said — but for those with smaller
amounts of arthritis, “it’s one of the best exercises you can do.”
He recommends that people start with a small, short
walk, gradually building up distance over time. The goal of the exercise is to
provide muscular support to an arthritic knee, he said, and to let the joints,
tendons and tissues become acclimated to the walking.
He also suggested using supportive shoes, drinking
plenty of water during a walk and taking frequent rests if tired or new to it.
After a long walk, icing the knee may also help relieve discomfort, he added.
Although a stroll down the street can’t repair cartilage or
remedy existing pain, the exercise offers a compelling and accessible option
for staving off the more intrusive aspects of osteoarthritis, Lo said. After
all, she added, “walking doesn’t cost a cent”.
Read more Health
Jordan News