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http://health./search/healthnews?lb=s & p=id%3A64913

 

Arthritic Joints Stand Up to Intensive Exercise

November 3, 2004 11:54:56 AM PST , Reuters

 

Long-term high-intensity exercise does not accelerate the progression of

joint damage in the hands and feet of people with rheumatoid arthritis,

according to a Dutch report.

 

Exercise known to benefit arthritis patients, increasing their physical

capacity, functional ability, and emotional, the researchers explain in the

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. However, little is known about the

effects of exercise on damage to the small joints of the hands and feet.

 

Dr. Z. de Jong from Leiden University Medical Center and colleagues studied

a total of 309 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who were divided randomly

into a high-intensity exercise group or a regular physical exercise. After

two years, 136 participants in the high-intensity and 145 in the control

exercise group were still in the trial.

 

At that point, the number of damaged joints in the hands and feet increased

in both groups and did not differ between them, the team reports.

 

For those who did experience a rapid increase in damage to these joints,

three factors seemed to be key -- worse existing damage before the study

started, higher disease activity during the study, and decreases rather

than increases in aerobic fitness, the researchers note.

 

" This is the first time that improvement in aerobic fitness has been shown

to predict, independently of other factors, a decrease in the rate of local

bone damage, " they point out.

 

In conclusion, " We provide evidence that participation in a long-term

high-intensity weight-bearing exercise program comprising improvement in

aerobic fitness and impact-generating activities does not increase the rate

of radiological joint damage of the hands and feet in patients with

rheumatoid arthritis, " the team writes.

 

" On the contrary, it seems that these exercises have a protective effect

for the joints of the feet, " they say.

 

" I think the next step will be to see how safe these exercises are for

people with prostheses and/or extensive damage to the large weight-bearing

joints, " de Jong told Reuters Health. " Also, the effectiveness of cheaper

alternatives like (partly) home-based training will be explored. "

 

His advice to doctors who care for patients with rheumatoid arthritis: " Do

not be afraid to advise your patients to exercises vigorously! Trust that

they are able to do it. "

 

SOURCE: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, November 2004.

 

 

http://www.mercola.com/2004/nov/20/exercise.htm

Those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are continually plagued with

pain due to the swelling and destruction of their joints. However, research

has indicated that exercise may be a reliable treatment for this

inflammatory condition.

 

Although little has been discovered on the influence exercise has on the

small joints of the hands and feet, it is well known that exercise benefits:

 

* Physical and emotional capacity

* Functional ability

 

In a study, researchers divided more than 300 RA patients into two separate

groups: a high-intensity exercise group and a regular exercise group. Both

groups showed an increase in the number of damaged joints in their hands

and feet. Three factors were evident among the patients who experienced the

pain increase.

 

These factors included:

 

* Worse existing damage than others before the trial began

* Higher disease activity during the study

* A decrease in aerobic fitness

 

Based on the study, researchers concluded that RA patients who engage in a

long-term high-intensity weight-bearing exercise program, which involves

aerobic fitness, did not increase the rate of joint damage in their hands

and feet. In fact, researchers claim such exercises could provide a

protective effect of the joints on the feet.

 

Future research will be conducted to see if these exercises are safe for

patients with prostheses and/or extensive damage to the large

weight-bearing joints. In the meantime, doctors are encouraged to recommend

rigorous exercise to patients with RA.

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 

This article serves as another example of how exercise is incredibly

beneficial to your health. In addition to using exercise to treat RA, there

are a number of other NATURAL tools I highly recommend adopting.

 

Most of the patients I see suffer from " ED. " That is not short for Erectile

Dysfunction, but my term for Exercise Deficiency or Exercise Debt. Most of

the two-thirds of the country who are overweight and tens of millions of

others with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, desperately

need more exercise to control their underlying condition. There simply is

not much of a stronger tool to drop your insulin levels than exercise and

elevated insulin levels are one of the primary drivers for these types of

illnesses.

 

Exercise really needs to be viewed as a drug and very few clinicians or

patients understand this. I believe it is one of the most powerful " drugs "

that we have in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Unlike typical commercial

drugs, exercise can actually cause one to go into permanent remission for

diabetes.

 

Most of the patients I see have a serious exercise debt and if they only

walk for 30 minutes a few times a week they will never repay the principal

on their debt. If they wish to optimize their health they need to do move

towards about 90 minutes of cardiovascular exercise every day. This amount

of exercise is only required in the treatment phase though and they can cut

back to 45 minutes three times a week once they become healthy

 

My personal form of exercise is running and earlier this week I wrote a

post on why I enjoy running.

 

Most people are also time-deprived so I ask them to stop directing their

limited time to strength training until they are able to optimize their

weight. If they have time left over after investing 90 minutes in a cardio

program then I encourage them to continue their weight training program.

Additionally, most people are clueless about the exercise intensity and

just don't understand that walking for 90 minutes isn't a sufficiently

intense exercise. I explain to my patients that they need to go hard enough

so that they are having a difficult time talking to someone and then drop

back half a notch. If one can easily carry on a conversation with someone

next to them they are clearly going to slow to generate the aerobic

benefits that exercise is capable of doing.

 

One of the key principles I teach though is to listen to your body. If your

body will not allow you to exercise either due to pain or worsening of your

underlying condition then you have no practical option but to honor your

body's signals and not exercise. Even though your body desperately needs

the exercise to improve, you will only get worse if you violate your

current limitations. So you may have to start with as little as one or two

minutes a day. Apply the Total Health Program and as your body gradually

improves so will your tolerance to exercise tolerance, so continue to push

yourself until you reach the daily 90 minute level.

 

Once at 90 minutes a day you will need to push the intensity so you are

going hard enough so that it is difficult to carry on a conversation with

someone standing next to you. If you can easily talk to someone you simply

are not going hard enough to give your body the benefits it needs. You do

not need to monitor your heart rate to measure this intensity and that

makes it much easier to do.

 

I fine the energy psychology tool Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT an

enormously powerful tool in helping people exercise. EFT is a form of

psychological acupuncture treatment I recommend in order to optimize your

emotional health. It can help you remove the blocks that prevent you from

successfully implementing your program. You can learn the technique with my

free manual and discover more about the connection between your emotional

well-being and your overall health.

 

EFT is also one of the most powerful tools I know of to help people repair

the bioelectrical short circuiting that impairs a person's immune system

and makes them susceptible to developing rheumatoid arthritis, or for that

matter any other autoimmune disease. I find it an essential tool in helping

our patients recover from these diseases.

 

Also, seek assistance in learning the concepts of EFT through my EFT Series

on DVD or VHS.

 

Another great tool in treating RA is to become familiar with your metabolic

type. Individualizing your diet with metabolic typing principles is an

absolutely amazing way to improve the results of treating RA, as it is an

autoimmune disease, which means it is thought to occur when the body's

immune system turns against itself.

 

That is why it is extremely important to take care of your body and make

sure you are eating the right foods according to my plan. You can learn

your specific type now by taking my free on-line metabolic type test.

 

Last, and certainly NOT least, is to treat RA by incorporating an optimized

nutrition plan into your life. This not only involves the restriction of

foods that impair the immune system (like sugar and grains), but also

adding high levels of omega-3 fats into your diet. These fats, like DHA and

EPA can be found in fish and cod liver oil.

 

Compared to natural methods, the treatment of RA with drugs, surgery or

both are clearly inferior options.

 

Folks, if you or someone you know has this potentially devastating disease,

please seek a form of treatment that addresses the underlying cause.

Failure to treat the disease could condemn a person to a lifetime of

misery, as much of the damage of RA is irreversible once it has occurred.

Once the joints are destroyed there is no way to bring them back.

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