9/2/2014 USU research finds water workout benefits osteoarthritis patients - The Herald Journal: Allaccess

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USU research finds water workout benefits osteoarthritis patients

AquaWorx

Rick Wetherald, a physical therapist at AquaWorx, instructs Shirley Lott on exercises while she walks on a treadmill installed inside a

pool at the Logan therapy center. (John Zsiray/Herald Journal)

Posted: Wednesday, August 20, 2014 10:46 pm

By Kevin Opsahl |

People with osteoarthritis show greater improvement with the help of high-intensity training on awater treadmill as opposed to other forms of land-based exercise, according to a new Utah StateUniversity study.

The study — funded by the National Swimming Pool Foundation and published this month in the Journal of Strength and ConditioningResearch — found that its participants experienced significantly less joint pain, improved balance and better mobility after participating in asix-week exercise regimen. After the completion of the six weeks, participants’ walking speed was nearly identical to that of people withoutarthritis.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one in two Americans will get some form of osteoarthritis in their lifetime, andthe joint disease affects 27 million American adults.

In an interview with The Herald Journal, Eadric Bressel, the study’s lead author and a professor at the department of health, physicaleducation and recreation, explained that land-based exercises only “loads the joints” with the person’s body weight. Going into the waterunloads body weight by up to 70 percent.

“You can imagine those joints are being unloaded substantially when you go into the water,” Bressel said. “So this study was sort ofpioneering the way to a new type of exercise for these folks that could not be achieved on land.”

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9/2/2014 USU research finds water workout benefits osteoarthritis patients - The Herald Journal: Allaccess

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Bressel said water treadmill studies have been conducted in the past with athletes or healthy individuals, but USU’s study is the first to usean aquatic treadmill with arthritis patients.

The USU study idea is derived from a 2011 “landmark study” on osteoarthritis at Wake Forest University that found a “very strongrelationship between reduction in body weight and improvement in arthritis pain,” Bressel said.

“They didn’t treat it though,” the USU professor noted. “There’s been studies for years that say if you go in the water, there’s a belief that itwill improve the symptoms of arthritis. What’s always been confusing is that the results have never been so much better than land; in otherwords, they weren’t so much better that we should all invest in pools.”

The USU professor explained that a small-scale USU study the same year found positive results for study subjects with osteoarthritis “just byhaving people go in the water.”

The more recent study that was published this month used a method called “high-intensity intervals,” allowing USU to get “a treatment effectin a very short period of time,” with the study subjects, Bressel said.

Research shows that high-intensity interval training may have additional health benefits when compared to traditional moderate exercise, hesaid — whether the person who does the workout has osteoarthritis or not.

Overall, Bressel recommends the study subjects and those with osteoarthritis keep to a healthy diet and exercise regularly to lose weightand thus decrease joint pain.

The USU professor noted that many of the study participants were enrolled in USU’s annual Summer Citizens senior program, which drawsmany retirees from Arizona for summer classes.

“Many were on the phone to their physical therapists wondering where they could find access to these pools in Arizona,” Bressel said.

He believes Intermountain Healthcare is installing treadmill pools to the addition to the Budge Clinic at Logan Regional Hospital.

Other study participants were those that regularly use AquaWorx, a therapy provider in Cache Valley that is part of the Sunshine TerraceFoundation.

Shirley Lott, 81, did not participate in the USU study, but uses the water treadmill technology regularly. She says she has some arthritis pain,but mainly goes to AquaWorx because doctors told her it would help treat lower back pain from a car accident.

“It helps relieve a certain amount of pain because you’re not out on that pressure like you would be out on a hard floor. The treadmill movesfor you and helps keep those muscles working,” Lott said. “It moves at a pace you can handle, and as you proceed with treatment aftertreatment, they turn it on faster. It helps develop your muscles and give strength gradually, and that’s what I like about this.”

Bressel noted Lott’s condition, saying there are many other uses for aquatic therapy other than helping osteoarthritis. USU published onestudy examining trunk muscle activity differences between land and water and included a control subject with back pain, finding that “if apatient is unable to perform a movement on land, water may be a great place to begin physical therapy.”

Michelle Harmon, administrator at AquaWorx, said many customers have requested the treadmill pool again even after they are officiallydone with treatment.

“That silly quote of things that stay in motion tend to stay in motion or something that’s not in motion tends to stay at rest — it really is true,”Harmon said. “Your health tanks. So if we can get them moving, and they keep going, the overall outcome is a benefit.”

Harmon said it was important for USU to do this research because more people are experiencing health problems, “so if the university islooking at ways we can cut down on health care costs by exercising more, it affects all of us that way.”

“I think some people think they’re the only ones living with (osteoarthritis), but then they see this study and say, ‘Maybe I can get some relief,’”Harmon said.

kopsahl@hjnews.com

Twitter: KevJourno

© 2014 The Herald Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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