Even Running Won't Raise Your Risk Of Knee Arthritis

Regular exercise can greatly help improve the pain that comes with hip and knee arthritis, according to recent findings presented at the American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting in Boston.

The study examined 2,600 people with hip and knee osteoarthritis who were an average of 66 years old and those who were divided into two groups. While one group received usual care, the other group had regular exercise and both received standard care.

Just after two years, researchers found that those who received exercise or physical therapy saw great improvements in their symptoms, including pain, stiffness and physical function overall.

"Recent CDC guidelines recommend that all adults participate in regular physical activity, as there is definitive evidence that increased physical activity is associated with reduced cardiovascular events and mortality," said lead study author Grace Hsiao-Wei Lo, M.D., M.Sc of Baylor College of Medicine, in a news release. "However, the influence of these physical activities on knew OA is unclear. Since running is a common leisure physical activity that involves repetitive loading, which could be harmful to the joint, I was particularly interested in studying how habitual running relates to the development of knee OA."

Regardless of age, researchers found that those who spent a significant amount of time as an "active runner" at some point in their lives were less likely to develop related knee arthritis. The findings suggest that regular running could actually help to protect against knee OA-contrary to what some studies have suggested.

"This does not address the question of whether or not running is harmful to people who have pre-existing knee OA," Dr. Lo concluded. "However, in people who do not have knee osteoarthritis, there is no reason to restrict participation in habitual running at any time in life from the perspective that it does not appear to be harmful to the knee joint."