Losing to gain against arthritis
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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
People can fight the pain and disability of arthritis by keeping their weight in the healthy range and being physically active. But researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say 35 percent of people with arthritis were obese, compared with 24 percent of Americans in general.
The CDC's Jennifer Hootman says extra weight can increase pain and decrease the ability to move the joints. So she advises weight control for people with arthritis. And she says:
``They should be physically active because getting some exercise will burn calories, but even without weight loss, exercise is important because it strengthens the muscles around the joints.'' (10 seconds)
An article on arthritis was in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Learn more at hhs.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.