HHS HealthBeat (May 23, 2008)

How diabetes and arthritis get in each other’s way

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Diabetes and arthritis share something – being physically active can help to control both. Keeping muscle cells active fights the sugar control problems and complications of diabetes. Keeping joints moving fights the pain and complications of arthritis.

But researchers say people with diabetes and arthritis share something else – they’re not as active as they should be. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chad Helmick:

"People that had diabetes alone were inactive about 21 percent of the time, whereas people who had diabetes and arthritis were inactive about 30 percent of the time." (9 seconds)

Helmick says about half of people with diabetes also have arthritis – a proportion that, he says, surprised him.

Helmick says people with diabetes and arthritis can do things that are easy on the joints, such as walking, biking, and swimming.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May, 23 2008