Family health: exercises help with arthritis

People wanting to improve their family's health should advise any relatives who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis to keep active because it is beneficial to people with the condition, according one expert.

Lynn Love, director of operations at the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, said that exercises like those seen in Tai Chi can help to reduce the pain sufferers go through.

"Gentle exercises are certainly beneficial for many people with rheumatoid arthritis, but that is down to the individual because the disease could be so different in every individual," she said.

Other activities the expert recommended included swimming, which is good because it works every muscle group and helps joints stay active and supple.

The National Audit Office recently stated that rheumatoid arthritis can shorten life expectancy by six to ten years and is the equivalent to the impact of diabetes, stroke or coronary heart disease.

Written by Alice Rowe

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