How bad for your knees is running? Not bad at all, and it’s good for just about everything else. Judy Foreman, the Boston Globe’s health answer lady, reports on a recently published Stanford University study that gave annual questionnaires to 538 runners and 423
healthy men and women. All were at least 50 years old when the study
began in 1984. After 21 years of follow up, only 15 percent of the
runners had died, compared to 34 percent of the non-runners, a greater
than two-fold difference. In another study reported by Foreman, the same researchers focused
on 45 runners and 53 non-runners, all aged 50 or more in 1984, and gave
them periodic knee X-rays to detect possible osteoarthritis. After 18
years of testing, there was no increase in risk among runners.
Read more from Judy Foreman.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Sunday, June 1, 2025
A cornerstone of therapy of any form of arthritis is physical therapy and occupational therapy to maintain joint mobility and range of motion. The proper kind and amount of this therapy will vary depending upon the underlying cause and upon individual factors that your physician will discuss with you.