Exercise Does Not Appear To Raise Damage To Joints

Main Category: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Also Included In: Arthritis / Rheumatology
Article Date: 28 Jan 2009 - 5:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

There is no good evidence supporting a harmful effect of exercise on joints in the setting of normal joints and regular exercise, according to a review of studies published in this month's issue of the Journal of Anatomy.

Exercise is an extremely popular leisure-time activity in many countries throughout the Western world and has for many become part of the modern lifestyle. It is widely promoted in as being beneficial for weight control, disease management in cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and for improving psychological well-being amongst an array of other benefits. In contrast, however, the lay press and community perception is also that exercise is potentially deleterious to one's joints, in particular those of the lower extremities.

Researchers from Boston, USA, and Ainring, Germany, reviewed existing studies on the relationship between regular exercise and osteoarthritis (OA) and concluded that in the absence of existing joint injury there is no increased risk of OA from exercise.

"We found that in elite athletes where there was more likelihood of obtaining sports injuries, there was an increased risk of OA in the damaged joints, but in most people vigorous, low-impact exercise is beneficial for both it's physical and mental benefits," said lead researcher David Hunter MD PhD, New England Baptist Hospital. "The largest modifiable risk factor for knee OA is body weight, such that each additional kilogram of body mass increases the compressive load over the knee by roughly 4kg".

One might surmise therefore that exercise to reduce body-weight, where necessary, could in fact reduce the risk of OA, rather than increase it.

The knee is the joint most commonly affected by the symptoms of osteoarthritis. More than 10 million Americans suffer from knee osteoarthritis, the most common cause of disability in the United States and women are more commonly affected than men.

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121645788/abstract

Full citation:
Hunter D.J., Eckstein F.; Exercise and osteoarthritis; J. Anat.(2009) 214, pp197-207; doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2008.01013.x

About the Journal

Journal of Anatomy publishes original papers, invited review articles and book reviews. Its main focus is on contributions to understanding development, evolution and function through a broad range of anatomical approaches. Articles covering bioinformatics and other topics that clarify or provide tools for functional anatomical understanding will also be sympathetically considered. Priority will be given to experimental studies, to contributions based on molecular and cell biology, and on the application of modern functional imaging techniques. Studies that are essentially descriptive anatomy will only be published if the Editors consider that they are of functional significance.

Wiley-Blackwell was formed in February 2007 as a result of the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and its merger with Wiley's Scientific, Technical, and Medical business. Together, the companies have created a global publishing business with deep strength in every major academic and professional field. Wiley-Blackwell publishes approximately 1,400 scholarly peer-reviewed journals and an extensive collection of books with global appeal. For more information on Wiley-Blackwell, please visit http://www.wiley-blackwell.com or http://interscience.wiley.com.

Wiley-Blackwell