In yet another example that activity may be the best medicine, researchers have found that walking briskly just 10 minutes or so a day can stave off the debilitating effects of arthritis and help older people stay mobile. The prescription is pretty simple: Stay active so you can stay active.
The study drew on data from more than 1,500 people in the the national Osteoarthritis Initiative database. All suffered pain or stiffness in the knee, hip, ankle or foot, but none reported being disabled at the start of the study period. Four years later, 24 percent who did not get at least an hour of brisk weekly exercise were by then walking too slowly to safely cross the street, a condition researchers call “mobility disability,” and 23 percent had trouble with routine morning tasks like getting dressed.
Conversely, those who got an hour of brisk exercise weekly reduced their risk of mobility disability by 85 percent and cut their chances of struggling with morning routines by 23 percent.
“This is less than 10 minutes a day for people to maintain their independence. It’s very doable,” said lead author Dorothy Dunlop, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “This minimum threshold may motivate inactive older adults to begin their path toward a physically active lifestyle with the wide…
