Exercise: Nature’s Relief from Knee PainRegular exercise provides long-term relief from aching kneesFor those who say exercise makes their knees hurt, research has proven that sticking with exercise provides pain relief that continues to improve even the second year into a fitness regiment. In a study by the Arthritis Research Institute of America (ARIA), subjects with knee osteoarthritis who exercised three times a week were monitored for two years to measure their pain scores. During the second year of the study, subjects reported a 10.7 percent reduction in pain, as opposed to 7.8 percent during the first year they took part in the study. “A regular exercise program offers many benefits—weight loss and better cardiovascular health among them—but our research shows that it also has a very positive effect on knee OA pain,” said Frances Vaughn Wilder, PhD, the study’s lead researcher and ARIA’s executive director. “Those who stuck with their fitness program were able to reap even greater pain relief two years after starting to exercise.” The ARIA study was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. It was written by Dr. Wilder, John P. Barrett, MD and Edward J. Farina, Ph.D, PT. Dr. Barrett is an orthopedic surgeon who founded ARIA and is president of its board of directors; Dr. Farina is its chairman of the board. Arthritis is a group of different diseases whose symptoms can range from and conditions, its symptoms can range from stiff joints to complete immobility and pain. The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis, the "wear and tear" type that affects more than 27 million Americans after the age of 50 as their joints begin to age. Since 1988, the Arthritis Research Institute of America (ARIA) has been studying thousands of participants to learn more about osteoarthritis. The 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit research organization is based in Clearwater, but its findings have been published worldwide. ARIA’s x-ray database is globally acknowledged as one of the most complete sources of information about the progression of osteoarthritis.
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