NoExcusesGym

Strengthening exercises for the legs may help slow the progression of knee arthritis over the long haul, a study shows.

Osteoarthritis is the common, “wear-and-tear” form of arthritis that often comes with aging. The cartilage cushioning the joints breaks down, allowing bones to rub together. Over time, the affected joint loses its normal shape, causing further pain and mobility problems.

Other studies have found that strengthening exercises can, in the short term, ease knee arthritis symptoms. The new study was unusual for an exercise trial because it ran for 30 months, looking for differences in X-ray evidence of arthritis progression, study co-author Dr. Steven A. Mazzuca told Reuters Health.

Mazzuca and his colleagues at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis followed 221 older adults. Fifty-seven had a diagnosis of knee arthritis and 164 were recruited from the general population.

About half were randomly assigned to strength training that emphasized the lower body, first at a fitness center and then to a home-based regimen. The other patients underwent flexibility exercises and served as a comparison group. Sixty-seven patients did not complete the trial, leaving 154 patients for evaluation.

After 30 months, study participants in the strength training group showed less narrowing in the knee joint than their counterparts who performed flexibility exercises.

Strength training slowed the rate of joint space narrowing by about one quarter, the researchers report in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.  

(by Marcela Vanharova)