One hour of activity can save from disability, new study

In situations where you lose the ability to move and perform the everyday activities of daily life, it can lead to a loss of independence and can also be deadly. The researchers are now focusing on preventing the conditions that can lead to loss of activity or disability. If you are physically active, it helps to prevent disability in those who are at risk of joint conditions. A new study has said that adults with lower-extremity joint symptoms like aching, pain or stiffness who get at least one hour of moderate to vigorous exercise every week are more likely to be free of disability after four years than people who did not meet such exercise goals.

The study was published in the American Journal of Preventive medicine and looked at participants in the Osteoarthritis Initiative on April 1, 2019. The Osteoarthritis Initiative is a big multisite study on knee Osteoarthritis and studies people who were at risk of disability due to lower-extremity symptoms from 2008 to 2014. The condition of arthritis is where the joints are inflamed and is the location where the bones come together in the body and this can lead to disability.

Osteoarthritis is a kind of arthritis that occurs with aging and excessive use of joints. Cindy McDaniel, the Senior Vice President of consumer health at nonprofit Arthritis Foundation “People who start to experience occasional pain, stiffness and weakness may have early osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis impacting more than 30 million Americans”. Here the tissue that covers the bone between joints is gradually worn down as the bones rub against each other and cause pain. Due to this Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease or also known as the wear and tear arthritis.

Dorothy D Dunlop, the lead author of the study said that the researchers had focused on adults with pain, aching and stiffness in lower hip, knee, ankle and foot joints as they are at elevated risk for developing disability.

Photo Credits: Pixabay