Arthritis is a relatively common disease causing everything from mild discomfort to surgery. In its most general form arthritis means that one or more of the joints are inflamed and that the results are swelling, stiffness and limited mobility around the affected joints. In other words, those who have arthritis are extremely sore and swollen.
Arthritis does not have just one cause, but rather hundreds. The specific cause is linked the specific type of arthritis that a patient suffers from. Some of the most common types include rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Aside from these most well known, there are over a hundred different kinds of arthritis.
One thing that patients with arthritis can do to help relieve the pain associated with their condition (depending on which joints are affected) is aerobic exercise. The American College of Sports Medicine says that aerobic exercise is “any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously, and is rhythmic in nature.” Things like aerobic dance, swimming, water therapy classes, bicycling and even walking are considered aerobic exercise.
A recent study from the University of Grenoble Medical School in France has said that aerobic activity is safe for patients with stable rheumatoid arthritis. Aside from safe, the patients who participated in the study were more pain free and had better joint movement as well. Overall, this helped the patients have a higher quality of life. Other studies have also been conducted indicating that aerobic exercise could help with sleeping patterns as well.
The important thing to note about doing aerobic exercise with rheumatoid arthritis is that the exercise should be non-rigorous exercise and the patients should be careful not to overdue it. The studies on the effects of aerobic exercise on arthritis are still relatively new and more studies and trials are still being conducted about the clinical effects.
