A study published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that more than half of adults with diabetes also have arthritis, and the pain can get in the way of the physical activity that plays a key role in managing diabetes.
In the United States about 46.4 million adults have arthritis and about 20.6 million have diabetes. Studies show that gentle exercise such as walking, swimming and cycling can benefit both conditions.
In the study, which used data from across the United States (all states and the District of Columbia) from 2005 to 2007, about 29.8% of adults with both arthritis and diabetes did no physical activity at all, compared with 21.0% of those with diabetes only, 17.3% with arthritis only and 10.9% of people with neither.
"Physical activity is good for people with diabetes, arthritis or both, even if it is hard," says Janet Collins, PhD, of the CDC. "Regular activity helps people with diabetes control their blood sugar and lowers the risk of complications, and it eases pain and improves function in arthritis." So people worried about pain or about damaging their joints should be told which activities are safe and why they matter.
"Gentle exercise and keeping a healthy weight ease pain and reduce the disability that comes with arthritis," says Chad Helmick, MD, a CDC medical epidemiologist and co-author of the study.
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