Suffering From Inflammation In Your Joints? This Latest Study Suggests You Go For A Run!

This might sound a little weird, but in a new research published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, exercise science professors found that pro-inflammatory molecules actually go down in the knee joint after running.

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In other words, researchers found that running can reduce joint inflammation. ¡°It flies in the face of intuition,¡± said the study¡¯s coauthor, Matt Seeley. In the study, the researchers measured inflammation markers in the knee joint fluid of several healthy men and women aged 18-35, both before and after running.

The researchers found that the specific markers they were looking for in the extracted synovial fluid, two cytokines named GM-CSF and IL-15¨Cdecreased in concentration in the subjects after 30 minutes of running. When the same fluids were extracted before and after a non-running condition, the inflammation markers stayed at similar levels. ¡°What we now know is that for young, healthy individuals, exercise creates an anti-inflammatory environment that may be beneficial in terms of long-term joint health,¡± said study lead author Robert Hyldahl.

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Researchers said the study results indicate running is chondroprotective - which means exercise may help delay the onset of joint degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis. This is potentially great news, since osteoarthritis ¨C the painful disease where cartilage at the end of bones wears down and gradually worsens over time ¨C affects about 27 million people in the United States.

¡°This study does not indicate that distance runners are any more likely to get osteoarthritis than any other person,¡± Seeley said, adding, ¡°Instead, this study suggests exercise can be a type of medicine.¡±