Heavy Exercise Aids Rheumatoid Arthritis
New research shows that high-intensity, long-term exercise is not only safe, but it also may help people in early stages of rheumatoid arthritis function better -- physically and emotionally.
As a consequence of their disease and its treatment, rheumatoid arthritis patients are more likely to get heart disease than the general population. But typically, intensive, long-term exercise -- which is known to help prevent heart disease -- has not been encouraged in rheumatoid arthritis patients because of fear it might further damage the joints.
Researchers started off by assigning 300 rheumatoid arthritis patients to either an exercise program or to physical therapy for two years.
The exercise group participated in a supervised, biweekly group exercise program lasting a little more than an hour each. The training program included:
- 20 minutes of strength training with weights
- 20 minutes of bike riding -- keeping the heart rate at about 70% to 90% of maximum heart rate (calculated as 220 minus your age)
- 20 minutes of sports, such as badminton, volleyball, soccer, and basketball
The research appears in the latest issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Good for Mind and Body
There was no significant, harmful affect on weight-bearing joints (except on patients who began the program with considerable large joint damage). There was also a significantly larger improvement in aerobic fitness in the exercise group compared with the physical therapy group.
In fact, aerobic fitness decreased in those patients. Muscle strength increased in both groups, but still, the intense exercise group had a better showing.
Finally, the exercise group also improved more emotionally than the physical therapy arthritis patients, saying they felt more optimistic and able to cope.
'This study demonstrates that participation in long-term, high-intensity exercise classes decreases the level of psychological distress in RA patients,' says researcher Zuzana de Jong, MD, in a news release.
But de Jong's team says more research is needed on the subject.
Overall, damage of the large joints as seen on X-ray didn't get worse in either group. But volunteers who had considerable existing damage at the start of the study did show some worsening of their joint damage -- this finding was more pronounced in the intense exercise group.
In RA patients with considerable joint damage, it seems wise to offer exercises that spare these joints until more research is done, de Jong concludes.
SOURCES: De Jong, Z. Arthritis & Rheumatism, September 2003; vol 48: pp 2415-2424. News release, Arthritis & Rheumatism.
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