Daily HealthBeat Tip

Working the joints

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

People who have arthritis need to keep their joints in motion � staying active helps to reduce their pain and slows the progression of the disease. But research finds people often don�t.

Jennifer Hootman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed CDC survey data.

The study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found people with arthritis are less active than those without arthritis. And 44 percent of people with arthritis don�t get any physical activity.

Hootman says they should get at least 30 minutes a day, at least three times a week, of activity that�s easy on the joints � maybe in 10-minute segments.

"And this makes it easier for people with arthritis to do because they can do 10 minutes and not get their joints inflamed, and later on in the day do another 10 minutes, and so on." (10 seconds)

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

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

Last revised: May 8, 2006

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