Rheumatoid arthritis pain 'improves through strength training'

Strength training improves pain and physical function in rheumatoid arthritis patients, new research published in the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology has suggested.

A randomised control trial on the effects of a 16-week training programme on people with rheumatoid arthritis revealed that sufferers were more likely to experience improvements in their condition if they undertook the training.

The researchers divided 24 patients with the disease, all of whom were being treated with infliximab, an anti-TNF drug, into two groups. The first group of patients took part in the strength training programme, while the second received no intervention.

In the first group, patients underwent training three times a week where they did exercises like hammer curls, leg presses and incline dumbbell presses. Their improvements were assessed at week eight and again at week 16.

Results at the end of the study revealed that there was a 46.1 per cent improvement in strength in the group that underwent the training programme. In addition, grip strength increased in the first group but declined in those who did not take part in the training.

A 53 per cent reduction in pain was also enjoyed by patients in the first group, while there was almost no change in pain levels in the control group.

"High-intensity strength training in rheumatoid arthritis patients with varying levels of disease activity and joint damage had a large, significant effect on strength, and led to improvements in pain and function, with additive patient benefits beyond the effect of their infliximab use," the researchers concluded.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a form of inflammatory arthritis that affects around 350,000 people in the UK. Patients are prescribed anti-TNF drugs, first developed by the Arthritis Research Campaign, when they have failed to respond to standard methotrexate treatment.

A spokesman for the Arthritis Research Campaign said the study’s results confirmed its own earlier research which showed the beneficial effect of resistance training in people with RA.




© Adfero Ltd

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