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Science Diabetics: half arthritic, many physically inactive
Science Diabetics: half arthritic, many physically inactive | Diabetics: half arthritic, many physically inactive |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Monday, 12 May 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 2 According to the CDC study, approximately 20.6 million U.S. adults were reported to have diabetes in 2005. Featured Whitepaper
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Science DiscussionsDr. Charles Helmick was the lead scientist for the CDC study on diabetes, arthritis, and physical inactivity. He commented on the results of the study in the WebMD website “CDC: 52% With Diabetes Have Arthritis”: “We expected there would be these differences [in arthritis prevalence] among older people, but there were very strong differences among younger people, too. A lot of them had both arthritis and diabetes -- as well as physical activity levels that were not very high." Helmick recognizes that exercise is very important to people with diabetes because it helps to keep diabetic problems at a minimum. Exercise is also important for people with arthritis. However, the results of the CDC study show that when people with diabetes and arthritis are much less likely to get the same amount of exercise than the general population. He comments, "In diabetes, we speculate, everybody has the usual barriers for not being physically active: not having time, competing priorities, lack of motivation, and so on. But when you have arthritis you have special barriers on top of those. You don't know what activities are safe. And you worry: 'Will exercise make my joint pain worse?' 'Will exercise harm my joints?'" [WebMD] WebMD states that “Fortunately, simple activities such as walking, swimming, and bicycling are friendly to arthritic joints -- and they are things most people can do. And there's lots of help for people who need more specific advice, starting with the CDC's arthritis web site (www.cdc.gov/arthritis/index.htm) and including exercise programs developed by the Arthritis Foundation (www.arthritis.org/exercise-intro.php).” Helmick concludes by saying, "People with diabetes and also arthritis should know they have a lot of company. More important, there are many ways for people with diabetes to be more active -- even with arthritis. And it is going to have benefits not only for their arthritis but for their diabetes as well." [WebMD] |
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