Do runner’s get more arthritis?
By Anne-Marie SamuelIs it true that running is hard on the knees, hips, and feet?
Running places a force of two and a half times body weight through the leg with each step. On average runners take 1700 steps a mile. Are they more predisposed to osteoarthritis due to the relentless pounding wearing out the cartilage in the knees and hips?
The most comprehensive study concerning running and disability was undertaken at the Stanford Arthritis Center in the US. The runners averaged 30 miles a week and had been running for 12 years on average.
The Stanford study found that runners did NOT experience higher rates of arthritis, compared to 'average' individuals in the overall population. In fact, runners actually had a lower risk of disability in their muscular and skeletal systems. Runners made fewer visits to the doctor, spent about 33 per cent less time in the hospital, missed half as many work days, and - as expected - had lower blood pressures and resting heart rates, compared to non-runners. In fact pains in the muscles and joints were FIVE times a likely in non-runners.
Overall, male runners accrued 40% less musculoskeletal aches and pains at rates than male non-runners. Running was even more important for females as they get older: female runners accumulated problems 89% lower, than female non-runners. The more sedentary the lifestyle, the higher the risk of disability.
A level of around 15 miles a week was on average the distance that gave the best results.
Although the Stanford researchers didn't ask their sedentary subjects to give exercise a try, other, scientists have done so. Notably, in a recent research effort a group of 50- to 65-year-old individuals who were previously sedentary embarked on a vigorous exercise programme and achieved considerable improvements in their musculoskeletal health. The bottom line? At present, it seems relatively certain that running and other forms of exercise are linked with positive health outcomes, including the well-being of the muscles, connective tissues, and joints.
' The American Journal of Medicine, vol. 82, pp. 772- 780, 1987; 'Running and the Development of Disability with Age, ' Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 121, pp. 502-509, 1994