MO Arthritis

Does Cold Weather Impact Arthritis?

Health professionals generally agree that patients with arthritis tend to feel more aches and pains during winter, or colder seasons.  However, there is little or no scientific proof that colder weather itself is what impacts our joints.  Many believe it is instead the reaction of our bodies to the colder weather and what we do or do not do which has the greater impact on our joints.  In the article "Dealing with arthritis in cold weather", the Vice President of Mission Delivery for the New Jersey Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, Peggy Lotkowictz, identifies shivering, tightening up of muscles, and reduction of physical activity as three reasons why people's joints stiffen up in winter times. 

Many people with arthritis would disagree with the notion that cold weather does not directly impact their joints, and there has been much discussion about correlations between the weather and arthritis (see WebMD article on the subject).  Regardless of which opinion you believe, perhaps the greatest suggestion for pain reduction any day (rainy, sunny, cold, etc.) is to make sure you are still being physically active.  Local malls, schools, and community centers are great options for moving about indoors when the weather is not ideal.  Community programs, including Walk With Ease and the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program, are also great ways to keep a routine schedule for being physically active, regardless of the weather!

Wonder Drug for Chronic Conditions?

Health based researchers are constantly looking for the next big thing; the "wonder drug" that will help relieve pain and improve your health.  Well, it looks like many researchers have hit on the same concept, which may turn out to be the biggest "wonder drug" for individuals with chronic conditions.  Exercise.  Good, old-fashioned movement may be the "drug" needed to jump start pain relief and improvement of health.  Even better, "taking" exercise before chronic conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, anxiety, heart disease, and depression, appear can help reduce your health risk.  For arthritis specifically, physical activity can help relieve pain in stiff joints.

This is not a new concept though.  Physical activity has been promoted by health organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Arthritis Foundation for years.  And, for the past year, the Arthritis Foundation has been promoting that "Moving is the best medicine" through their media campaign with the Ad Council.  Click on the video below or here:

To learn more of the Arthritis Foundation's recommendations for how to reduce pain associated with arthritis, check out the website www.fightarthritispain.org.  To read more about the lifetime's worth of benefits from exercise, take a look at this article from the Charlotte Observer.  And, to take another step toward improving your health, sign up for a physical activity or self-management class here in Missouri; you can view our list of classes and contact information on our website, www.moarthritis.org.

Arthritis Pain Reliever

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new video describing a proven way of relieving arthritis pain - physical activity.  It is recommended that adults should get moderate physical activity 5 days a week for 30 minutes each day.  You can even exercise in increments as few as 10 minutes at a time.  Physical Activity can help you take control of your arthritis and improve your health!  Watch the video below, or at http://cdc.gov/CDCTV/ArthritisPain/

As seen on TV!

If you live in the Springfield or Kansas City metropolitan areas, chances are you saw an advertisement in October for the Missouri Arthritis and Osteoporosis Program.  This TV commercial encourages viewers to visit our website and to check out the courses we offer (Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, Tomando Control de su Salud, Arthritis Toolkit, Walk with Ease, Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program).  If you missed it the first time around, or don't live in one of these two areas of the state, you can view the commercial in it's entirety here:

If you are in the Springfield or Kansas City area, be on the lookout for the commercial to show up on TV again in March 2012!

Missouri's Health Ranking

Here in the United States, rivalries are all around us.  From brand rivalries (Coke vs Pepsi) to political rivalries (Democratic vs Republican) to advertised rivalries (Mac vs PC) to college and professional sports rivalries (Cardinals vs Cubs), even to some time ago when your high school student body would rally together to excel in all competitions against an opposing high school, it is fairly easy to think of ways we strive to prove that one entity is better than the other.  For as competitive and rivalry driven as we are, it seems we could make nearly anything a friendly competition.  Here's an opportunity for us here in Missouri to improve our rankings, all while making our lives healthier in the process!

The United Health Foundation recently released the 22nd annual edition of America's Health Rankings: A Call to Action for Individual's and Their Communities.  Beginning in 1990, this report has detailed a state-by-state analysis of the overall health of our country using health outcomes (actions that have already occurred) and health determinants (actions that can impact the future).  This year, Missouri ranked 40th. Last year we ranked 39th, and the determinant (future) vs outcome (past) predictors show us on a course to have our health ranking continue to decline over time.

So what does this all mean?  It means that perhaps it's time for a friendly rivalry!  A few individuals, for example you and me, cannot make enough positive health changes personally to change our overall state rating drastically.  However, a few individuals who are willing to encourage and support health changes in their community AND to rally others in the community to do the same, can begin to make big changes in small ways. 

One way that individuals can improve their health, is by engaging in self-management programs and increasing physical activity.  Rates of adults with diabetes and those who are obese have both increased over the past five years.  Attending a self-management program, such as the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program offered here in Missouri can help empower individuals to take control of conditions that affect their health, including diabetes, obesity, arthritis, and cardiovascular (heart) disease. These courses can also help reduce the number of hospital and emergency room visits.  As you may remember from another recent post, engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate Physical Activity a week can also help adults stay healthy.  A recent YouTube video from a physician, helps visually demonstrate why and how thirty minutes of physical activity a day can be helpful (which would be more than 150 minutes a week!):

To be competitive and to improve upon our ranking for next year, we need a lot of people to take their health seriously.  Here are a few suggestions for ways that you can make small changes in your own community.

• Ask a friend to be a walking partner.
• Encourage a loved one to take a self-management workshop.
• Advocate for healthy changes in your community (installation of sidewalks, bike lanes, and smoke-free public places are a good start).
• Start up a community exercise program or long-term goal setting event (like a Walk-A-Thon or "Biggest Loser" type program).
• Take preventative measures to improve your health (including cancer screenings, yearly doctor visits, and regular dentist visits).
• Ask local grocery stores and convenience stores to stock fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Talk with your friends and family, especially children and teenagers, about why both your health and theirs is important to you.

You can view a full fact sheet on Missouri's 2011 America's Health Rankings here.  To see the full report, or to learn more about the United Health Foundation and/or America's Health Rankings, head on over to www.americashealthrankings.org.

Weekly Report Looks at Physical Activity Prevalence

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released their latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).  It features a report from Jennifer M. Hootman, PhD, Arthritis Program, that looks at "State-Specific Prevalence of No Leisure-Time Physical Activity Among Adults With and Without Doctor-Diagnosed Arthritis - United States, 2009".  The report can be found here in its entirety.  To look at the entire MMWR from December 9, 2011, click here for a PDF.

Restart Living - Self Management Informational Site

The National Council on Aging has recently put together a website to help adults with one or more chronic health conditions, such as arthritis, asthma, depression, diabetes, or heart disease, to improve upon their health by using self-management techniques and resources. On this website, Restart Living, you can learn more about self-management programs, take an online quiz to determine if you are ready to enroll in a workshop, watch a video describing the group and online formats of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, and use an interactive map to find a workshop near you!

Many of you may be familiar with the evidence-based program, Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP), developed by Stanford University's Patient Education Resource Center.  CDSMP is an effective tool on an individual's list of self-management resources.  It is also a great starting point to understanding how self-management can assist with taking control of your health.  To learn more about the six-week, two and a half hours per week peer-led Stanford CDSMP workshops, visit the CDSMP website.

Here in Missouri, we offer in-person CDSMP group format workshops in both English and Spanish (Tomando Control de su Salud).  We additionally offer an Arthritis Toolkit for an individual self-management approach looking specifically at the chronic condition of arthritis.  Improving upon your physical activity can be a specific method of increasing your self-management for your health, especially in the case of arthritis.  In Missouri, we offer an Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program and a Walk With Ease program; these programs are open to all, not just individuals with arthritis.  To learn more about our programs here in Missouri or to contact us, please visit our website www.moarthritis.org.

Exercise to Help Individuals with Arthritis

NPR takes a look at how exercise and moving can assist individuals with arthritis. The article accompanying their media bit can be found here. While it may seem counter-intuitive to engage in physical activity when you are stiff, sore or have pain, many individuals with various forms of arthritis actually find it helpful and relieving to include movement in their daily lives. NPR's Patti Neighmond addresses two ways of beginning to include exercise in your regular routine; walking to build endurance and yoga or pilates to build strength. 

Listen to NPR's "Got Arthritis? Exercise Can Help" story

 

The National Institute on Aging at NIH's website Go4Life addresses the other two types of exercise that should be included in your regular routine: balance and flexibility. Check out their website for suggestions of ways to incorporate endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility into your personal routine.

Not sure where to start with exercising? Have you heard conflicting opinions on how much physical activity you should be getting? The federal government released in 2008 their first ever "Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans". The recommendation for adults and older adults is to take 150 minutes every week to engage in moderate intensity aerobic exercise (such as brisk walking or water aerobics). While 150 minutes seems like a lot, it can be helpful to think about it in smaller chunks, even as few as 10 minutes at a time. Taking 10 minute brisk walks at three times throughout the day five days a week would be one way of starting to include 150 minutes of moderate exercise into your regular routine.  The recommendations also state that adults and older adults should do muscle-strengthening exercises at least 2 days of the week that work all major muscle groups.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide a nice overview to the physical activity guidelines.  If you have any concern about incorporating physical activity into your personal routine, or you aren't sure where to start - talk with your health care provider!

Healthy People 2020 - Arthritis, Osteoporosis and Chronic Back Conditions

Many of you may have heard of the Healthy People initiative, in particular Healthy People 2010.  Healthy People 2020 is the new set of national goals and objectives to guide national health promotion and disease prevention efforts for all people through the next decade here in the United States.  In addition to the Healthy People 2020 website and a brochure describing Healthy People 2020 goals and topic areas, there are also websites specific to the different topic areas, such as the "Arthritis, Osteoporosis, and Chronic Back Pain" page.  Several key points regarding this topic area are:

•  Interventions can reduce arthritis pain and improve functionality, but are underused.  These include: an increase in physical activity, self-management education, and weight loss among overweight and obese adults.
• Men have osteoporosis too - an estimated 800,000 men age 50 and over in the U.S. have osteoporosis.
• Low back pain is the second greatest cause of lost work time (after the common cold).

Some of the specific objectives of Healthy People 2020 regarding Arthritis, Osteoporosis and Chronic Back Pain include:

• Reducing the mean level of joint pain for adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritits (AOCBC-1)
• Reducing the unemployment rate among adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis (AOCBC-6.1)
• Increasing the proportion of adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis who have had effective, evidence-based arthritis education as an integral part of the management of their condition (AOCBC-8)
• Reduce hip fractures among older adults (AOCBC-11)
• Reduce activity limitation due to chronic back conditions (AOCBC-12)

Do You Go4Life?

How do you fit physical activity into your daily life?  Do you have a routine which incorporates the four different types of exercise into your life?  Endurance, strength, balance and flexibility activities are all important for striking a balance!  The National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health has released their website (go4life.niapublications.org) encouraging exercise and physical activity for aging adults.  There are a number of great resources on the website, including how to get started, how to set goals for yourself, and how to stay motivated to keep moving!

Check it out and share this valuable resource with friends and family!