Exercise can reduce risk of disability from arthritis

WASHINGTON -- Exercise can help older people avert a form of arthritis that can turn ordinary activities such as getting out of bed into a painful -- perhaps impossible -- chore, a study finds.

Those who regularly walked or did weight training were less likely to lose abilities to perform activities of daily living, such as getting out of bed, the study says.

The report is the first to demonstrate that exercise can help people avoid relying on others for help in these ordinary activities, said researcher Brenda Penninx of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Penninx and her colleagues looked at 250 participants ages 60 and older. When the study started, all could perform normal activities, despite osteoarthritis of the knee. Osteoarthritis is characterized by progressive deterioration of cartilage, and affects more than 80 percent of those who reach the age of 70.

The participants were divided into three groups. One walked for 40 minutes three times a week. Another spent the same amount of time on weight training -- two sets of 12 repetitions of nine exercises, most of them for the legs. The third did no exercise and served as a comparison group.

Results of the study were published in the Oct. 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Exercise is beneficial

After 18 months, 53 percent of the non-exercise group reported they had lost some or all ability to transfer from a bed to a chair, bathe, use the toilet or dress. In comparison, about 37 percent of exercisers did, and the difference between walking and weight training was so slight that researchers considered the benefits alike.

"I definitely think that people with knee osteoarthritis would benefit from a resistance or aerobic program," Penninx said. "What this study shows is that exercise is beneficial."

And the anti-disability benefits may extend beyond the knee, because 75 percent of the study participants had arthritis elsewhere, Penninx said.

Previous studies found that exercise reduces pain and improves muscle tone and balance, but this is the first to go to the next level and examine prevention of disability, Penninx said.