New research shows runners have less arthritis than non-runners

A new study comes to the somewhat counterintuitive conclusion that runners have less arthritis than non-runners.

Most people would assume that serious runners face a high risk for arthritis of the hip and knees, yet research to date has generally failed to uncover such a connection. A recent study, published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, actually found that veteran American marathoners had only half as much arthritis as non-runners. In the US arthritis currently represents a $300 billion annual burden.

The Study

Researchers from the orthopedic department at Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University compared arthritis rates between 675 U.S. marathoners (and continuing to run a minimum of 10 miles per week) and a matched sample of non-runners in the National Center for Health Statistics database.

The marathoners (average age 46, and 51 percent women) had been running for an average of 19 years, logging 35 miles a week, and finishing 48 marathons. Despite this, they had an arthritis prevalence of 8.8 percent vs. 17.9 percent for non-runners. When looking at those older than the age of 65 the rate of marathoners’ arthritis did increase — to 24.5 percent, but this was still roughly half the 49.6 percent arthritis rate of non-runners older than 65.

The research team from Thomas Jefferson believes marathoners and other runners may gain arthritis protection from muscle development, body weight control, decreased levels of inflammatory agents and the well-known bone strengthening that follows moderate-impact sports.

Bottom line

If you’re running healthy, stay the course. If you’re thinking about beginning a running program but are concerned about arthritis, don’t worry. Just begin slowly and progress moderately. Running is not harmful to healthy hips and knees. In fact, it promotes joint and general health. Those runners who do develop arthritis often get it after earlier injury or surgery, or from family genetics.