Get moving, Grandma! Exercise fights arthritis

Study: The more older women work out, the longer they'll be pain-free

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Exercise isn’t just about improving your heart and fighting flab that comes with aging. It may also be the answer to preventing stiff, achy joints that can lead to debilitating arthritis.

An Australian study suggests the more time older women spend exercising, the better their chances are of staying pain-free from one of the biggest chronic conditions plaguing developed countries.

Even exercising as little as one hour and 15 minutes a week now can make a difference over the next three years, according to findings recently published in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy.

“I don’t think the results are suggesting that you should just become this maniac exerciser,�?said lead author Kristiann Heesch from the University of Queensland, Australia. “What it does suggest is that just adding some walking and moderate activity to your life can make a big benefit.�?/P>

Doctors have long encouraged exercise among aging patients to keep joints flexible, muscles strong and to keep off weight, which is a leading risk factor for arthritis. This is the first study that focuses specifically on middle-aged and older women who did not have a history of stiff and painful joints. It looked solely at pain and symptoms reported by more than 8,700 Australian women over a three-year period, and could offer a vital clue about prevention.

Women in their 70s who exercised 75 minutes a week reported fewer symptoms of arthritis than those who did less, while more spry women who were active at least 2½ hours weekly had even less pain in the three years that followed. Although there appeared to be a direct correlation between exercise and lower joint pain, the reasons why were less clear.

“Maybe the exercise directly benefits the joints. Maybe exercise makes you lose weight and the latter benefits the joints. Maybe exercise causes pain sensing receptors to become less sensitive so one feels less pain,�?said Dr. John Hardin, chief scientific officer at the Atlanta-based Arthritis Foundation, who did not participate in the study.

Conversely, exercise had no effect on arthritis symptoms reported by middle-aged women. Heesch said it’s unclear why the results differed among the two age groups.

A quick payback
The findings also contradict some earlier research, which found no direct link between fitness and arthritis. The Australian study, published last week, focused on specific age groups of fairly healthy women predominantly from rural areas who had not been diagnosed with arthritis, which may partially explain the difference, Heesch said.

“If we could put out a pill that would solve a lot of problems, it would be physical activity, but we can’t wrap it up into a little pill and give it to people,�?she said. “Particularly with the baby boomers getting older, there’s going to be a lot more griping and need to address this.�?/P>

She said walking, swimming, yoga, tai chi and even some weight training were all great ways for older women to exercise after getting their doctors�?approval. More women than men suffer from arthritis, and the risk increases greatly with age.

“The fact that the study showed change in a short time speaks to the fact that exercise shows benefit quickly and is another reason to encourage people that exercise has a payback sooner than many people think,�?said Dr. Patience White, chief public health officer at the Arthritis Foundation.

One in five American adults has been diagnosed with arthritis �?half of those over age 75 have reported it �?costing billions of dollars each year. In both the United States and Australia, it is the No. 1 cause of disability.

1. Weight Control
   Obesity is one of the most significant factors contributing to the development and progression of arthritis. By losing even a small amount of weight, patients often find dramatic relief of their arthritis. Unfortunately, exercising with painful joints can be difficult, but there are ways to lose weight while protecting joints.

2. Activity Modification
   Impact sports can accelerate the progression of arthritis. Patients with arthritis should perform low-impact exercise activities. The best low-impact exercise options include cycling, swimming, pilates, and yoga. Stair machines and walking can all be low-impact, but are not as good.

3. Physical Therapy
   Physical therapy can be used to strengthen the muscles around the knee joint. By strengthening the muscles, the damaged joint is better supported. Physical therapists can be very helpful at teaching patients ways to stay fit despite their joint problems.

4. Ambulatory Aids
   The most common ambulatory aids are a cane or walker. Another option for patients with knee arthritis is a special brace that can relieve pressure on the most damaged side of the joint. While not every patient can use this type of brace, it is worthwhile to ask your doctor if a so-called 'offloading brace' may be appropriate.

5. Joint Supplements
   Glucosamine and chondroitin are often sold as 'joint supplements.' The benefit of these medications has been the subject of controversy, but they are thought to be most effective in patients with early arthritis.

6. Anti-Inflammatory Medications
   Medications an be used to help control inflammation in the arthritic joint. These medications can help ease the symptoms of mild to moderate arthritis. Always use anti-inflammatory medications under the direction of your physician.

7. Sources:

   "Care of the Aging or Post-Traumatic Knee" American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, July 2007.

EGCG from tea may prevent arthritis - study

By Stephen Daniells

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) extracted from green tea may inhibit the production of inflammatory molecules associated with and joint damage in people with rheumatoid arthritis, scientists have reported.

Salah-uddin Ahmed, from the University of Michigan Health System, told attendees at Experimental Biology 2007 in Washington, D.C. yesterday that the tea extract may also suppress the inflammatory products in the connective tissue of people with rheumatoid arthritis.

"Our research is a very promising step in the search for therapies for the joint destruction experienced by people who have rheumatoid arthritis," said Ahmed.

The results add to an ever-growing body of science linking consumption to a wide range of health benefits, including lower risk of certain cancers, weight loss, heart health, and protection against Alzheimer's.

Green tea contains between 30 and 40 per cent of water-extractable polyphenols, while black tea (green tea that has been oxidized by fermentation) contains between 3 and 10 per cent.

The four primary polyphenols found in fresh tealeaves are epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epicatechin.

The research, which has not been seen in its entirety by NutraIngredients.com, focused on synovial fibroblasts - cells that form a lining of the tissue surrounding the capsule of the joints - from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These fibroblasts were subsequently cultured in a growth medium and incubated with EGCG.

The pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) was then added to the culture medium. IL-1beta is an immune system protein reported to play an important role in causing joint destruction in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

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Ahmed told attendees that when untreated cells were stimulated with IL-1beta, a cascade of events occurred that resulted in production of the bone-destructive molecules interleukin-6 (IL-6) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). However, when the cells were incubated with EGCG the production of IL-6 and COX-2 was not observed.

The scientists revealed that work is ongoing with lab tests focusing on the inhibitory role of EGCG in gene expression. Animal studies will be used to test if EGCG can provide similar therapeutic or preventive effects against rheumatoid arthritis. Positive results could form a strong foundation for future testing of the green tea extract in humans with rheumatoid arthritis, said Ahmed.

This study could be good news for the tea extract market. European demand for tea extracts is currently surging, having reached 500 metric tonnes by 2003.

This has seen companies such as DSM, with its Teavigo boasting 95 per cent purity of EGCG, and Taiyo International, with its Sunphenon claiming more than 90 per cent purity, position themselves firmly in specific catechin markets.

Approximately seven million people in the UK alone are reported to have long-term health problems associated with arthritis. Around 206 million working days were lost in the UK in 1999-2000, equal to £18bn (�?6bn) of lost productivity.

Source: Experimental Biology 2007, Washington, D.C, 29 April 2007
Authors: S.-U. Ahmed, A. Pakozdi and A. Koch

Drinking Alcohol May Halt Arthritis, Research Finds

Mice given moderate amounts of alcohol were less likely to develop arthritis and to become crippled by it

Jacob Gaffney

Posted: Tuesday, January 16, 2007

When arthritis flairs up, grabbing a glass of wine with swollen fingers may be far from one's mind. But it may not be such a bad idea, according to research published in the Jan. 2 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A team of researchers at Göteborg University in Sweden found that low and steady doses of alcohol slowed the onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in laboratory mice. The discovery could prove to be useful in preventing the painful and destructive autoimmune disease in humans.

"Our aim here was to assess whether low but persistent consumption of ethanol in quantities nontoxic to the liver might affect the incidence of human RA," wrote the researchers, from the Department of Rheumatology and Inflammation Research and the Center for Bone Research. "Our results suggest that ethanol intake delays the onset and halts the progression of destructive arthritis."

The cause of arthritis is unknown, though theories abound, from family history to long-term knuckle cracking. With RA, the body's immune system turns on itself, confuses healthy tissue with foreign invaders and then attacks and inflames parts of the body. The destruction of joints may begin as soon as one year after onset.

The authors explained that since other studies have found a link between moderate drinking and lower rates of heart disease and stroke, they decided to test if alcohol may protect the health of joints and surrounding tissue by suppressing RA's autoimmune response.

The researchers used two groups of mice. The first group was given just water, while the other group was given a solution of 90 percent water and 10 percent ethanol, an amount similar to light to moderate consumption levels in humans. The mice were then given a collagen-type injection to induce arthritic symptoms.

After nine days, 85 percent of the control group showed arthritic symptoms, but only 20 percent of the mice that drank ethanol suffered the same problems.

Ethanol also appeared to reduce the severity of inflammation. By day 25, the arthritic mice in the ethanol group suffered flare-up symptoms only 5 percent of the time. The arthritic mice that drank only water experienced flare-ups 20 percent of the time. By day 35, those in the water-only group with arthritis were crippled, exhibiting symptoms 100 percent of the time. The ethanol group flared up only 40 percent of the time.

Further examination revealed that the mice who consumed ethanol had greater bone mineral density overall; studies on humans have similarly found that drinking wine and beer may contribute to greater bone mass. Also, the spleens of the mice in the ethanol group produced fewer inflammatory proteins that could contribute to the onset of arthritis. The authors did not observe side effects in the ethanol-consuming mice, which even maintained a healthy weight.

The researchers found that acetaldehyde, a metabolite of ethanol, may be responsible for the amelioration of joint inflammation, according to Nick Zagorski, a staff member at the PNAS journal. This shows promise, he said, for a therapy that may one day be alcohol-free and suitable for a wide range of patients. (The researchers noted that alcohol-based therapies are problematic because excessive consumption depresses the immune system and increases the chance of bacterial infections.)

A new approach would provide an alternative to current arthritis treatments, which vary from exercise in mild cases to corticosteroids in more severe instances. Many treatments have side effects; corticosteroids, for one, are believed to be related to higher blood pressure, bone thinning and weight gain. Doctors sometimes prescribe additional medications to combat those side effects.

More research is needed to better understand how moderate drinking helps prevent arthritis, the researchers noted. But they were impressed with how ethanol-consuming mice were better-equipped to deal with inflammation. "Even more importantly," they wrote, "the arthritis remained nondestructive even at late stages of the disease."

The researchers are confident that the benefits would be similar in humans, according to coauthor Andrej Tarkowski, even though some questions have yet to be answered. "It is presently unclear what dose would be the appropriate one," he said. "Maybe, speculatively, 1 to 2 glasses of wine per day, as in the case of cardiovascular diseases."