A combination of exercise and weight loss (diet control) help overweight patients with osteoarthritis. Aerobics and resistance training for thrice-weekly hour-long sessions, and the dietary intervention maintaining an weight loss in obese showed promising results.
The greatest benefits patients experienced an improvement in self-reported physical function, the distance they could walk in 6 minutes, stair-climb time, and knee pain.
“The results of the ADAPT – Arthritis, Diet, and Activity Promotion Trial – study are important for clinicians and patients, because they provide evidence for significant, although modest, treatment effects of a dietary weight loss program combined with regular exercise classes for sedentary, overweight and obese individuals” with knee arthritis, Dr. Marlene Fransen, from the University of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, notes in a related editorial.