Doctor say regular exercise is the best way to fight joint disease

• Based on the "wear and tear" nature of OA, the commonly held belief is that exercise will not strengthen joint cartilage and may even aggravate cartilage loss.
• Advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) now make it possible to study cartilage changes earlier in the course of OA.
• In the November 2005 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism (http:/?/?www.interscience.wiley.com/?journal...), they share evidence to support the therapeutic value of exercise for OA patients, for improving not only joint symptoms and function, but also the quality of knee cartilage.
• Working with the Department of Orthopedics at Malmö and Lund University Hospitals and the medical faculty of Lund University, Drs. Dahlberg and Roos recruited 29 men and 16 women, between the ages of 35 and 50, who had undergone meniscus repair within the past 3 to 5 years.
• The technique used focused specifically on the cartilage's glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content, a key component of cartilage strength and elasticity.
• In the exercise group, many subjects reported gains in physical activity and functional performance tests compared with subjects in the control group.
• What's more, MRI measures of the GAG content showed a strong correlation with the increased physical training of the subjects who had regularly participated in moderate, supervised exercise.
• "This study shows compositional changes in adult joint cartilage as a result of increased exercise, which confirms the observations made in prior animal studies but has not been previously shown in humans," notes Dr. Dahlberg.
• "The changes imply that human cartilage responds to physiologic loading in a way similar to that exhibited by muscle and bone, and that previously established positive symptomatic effects of exercise in patients with OA may occur in parallel or even be caused by improved cartilage properties."
• The conclusion, however, remains worthy of serious consideration: "Exercise may have important implications for disease prevention in patients at risk of developing knee OA."