Dieting and exercise improve osteoarthritis

Main Category: Arthritis / Rheumatology
Article Date: 07 May 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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A combination of weight loss and exercise provides functional improvements in overweight patients with osteoarthritis, a new study shows.

Research published in Arthritis and Rheumatism involved 316 older adults with knee osteoarthritis and a BMI of at least 28 who were randomized to receive a dietary intervention, an exercise intervention, both, or usual care. Of these subjects, 252 completed the study.

The exercise programme involved thrice weekly hour-long sessions that focused on aerobics and resistance training.

The dietary intervention incorporated group dynamics theory and social cognitive theory into a staged program with a goal of maintaining an average weight loss of 5% during the 18-month period.

Subjects in the diet-plus-exercise group experienced a significant improvement in self-reported physical function, 6-minute walk distance, stair-climb time, and knee pain.

The diet-only intervention appeared to offer no functional benefits over usual care but patients in the dietary intervention groups lost significantly more weight than those in the usual care group.

"The results of the study are important for clinicians and patients, because they provide evidence for significant, although modest, treatment effects of a dietary weight loss programme combined with regular exercise classes for sedentary, overweight and obese individuals with knee osteoarthritis," Dr. Marlene Fransen, from the University of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, notes in a related editorial.

Reference: Messier S et al (2004) Exercise and dietary weight loss in overweight and obese older adults with knee osteoarthritis: The arthritis, diet, and activity promotion trial Arthritis Rheum 50 (5) 1501-1510

From: Nursing Times Online