5 Surprising Benefits Of Walking

 

The next time you have a check-up, don’t be surprised if your doctor hands you a prescription to walk. Yes, this simple activity that you’ve been doing since you were about a year old is now being touted as “the closest thing we have to a wonder drug,” in the words of Dr. Thomas Frieden, former director of the USA Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of course, you probably know that any physical activity, including walking, is a boon to your overall health. But walking in particular comes with a host of benefits. Here’s a list of five that may surprise you.

  1. It counteracts the effects of weight-promoting genes.Harvard researchers looked at 32 obesity-promoting genes in over 12,000 people to determine how much these genes actually contribute to body weight. They then discovered that, among the study participants who walked briskly for about an hour a day, the effects of those genes were cut in half.
  2. It helps tame a sweet tooth.A pair of studies from the University of Exeter found that a 15-minute walk can curb cravings for chocolate and even reduce the amount of chocolate you eat in stressful situations. And the latest research confirms that walking can reduce cravings and intake of a variety of sugary snacks.
  3. It reduces the risk of developing breast cancer.Researchers already know that any kind of physical activity blunts the risk of breast cancer. But an American Cancer Society study that zeroed in on walking found that women who walked seven or more hours a week had a 14% lower risk of breast cancer than those who walked three hours or fewer per week. And walking provided this protection even for the women with breast cancer risk factors, such as being overweight or using supplemental hormones.
  4. It eases joint pain.Several studies have found that walking reduces arthritis-related pain, and that walking five to six miles a week can even prevent arthritis from forming in the first place. Walking protects the joints — especially the knees and hips, which are most susceptible to osteoarthritis — by lubricating them and strengthening the muscles that support them.
  5. It boosts immune function.Walking can help protect you during cold and flu season. A study of over 1,000 men and women found that those who walked at least 20 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week, had 43% fewer sick days than those who exercised once a week or less. And if they did get sick, it was for a shorter duration, and their symptoms were milder.

Our team of Physiotherapists, Sport & Exercise Medicine physicians and Orthopaedic Surgeons will be able to specifically advise you of your capacity and frequency of walking based on your condition.

To learn about additional benefits of walking, check out Walking for Health, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.

Injections For Knee Osteoarthritis

 

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common and most costly issues facing our modern Australian population.

While knee replacement is often a very effective treatment for osteoarthritis pain, it is major surgery. Recent high-quality studies have shown that in some cases, knee arthroscopy (‘a clean-out’) may be no better (or even worse) than no treatment at all.

Between pain medications and surgery, there are injectable treatments that can improve knee pain and function. The most commonly used injections for knee OA fall into three categories: corticosteroids (“Cortisone”), hyaluronans (e.g. “Durolane” or “Synvisc”), and blood-derived injections (platelet rich plasma or “PRP”, and others).

Cortisone

Sometimes a knee may have some longstanding OA but has become suddenly more swollen and painful: in this situation a corticosteroid injection may settle the knee back to how it was beforehand. Corticosteroids are powerful anti-inflammatory drugs, but do not improve the overall cartilage health of a knee with OA, and care must be taken that there is no infection in the knee, as a cortisone injection may make this much worse.

Hyaluronans

Hyaluronans are synthetic versions of the natural fluid inside the knee joint. In a normal knee this fluid helps to lubricate the joint and to keep the cartilage healthy. In a knee with OA, the knee fluid is also damaged and does not protect the joint as it should. An injection of a synthetic hyaluronan replaces the unhealthy fluid. Over more than 25 years of use worldwide this has been found to be an effective means of improving knee pain and function. This works best in knees with mild rather than severe OA and is usually very well tolerated. Improvements are often seen to last for 12-18 months.

We use Durolane, which has virtually no risk of allergic reactions compared to Synvisc (about 2% risk). Another option is Cingal, which is a combination of hyaluronan and cortisone.

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP)

Blood-derived treatments aim to provide natural anti-inflammatory substances from the blood. Blood is taken from the patient (like for a blood test), and then treated to extract the chosen substances, before being injected back into the knee. PRP is the most studied version of these treatments and has been found to improve knee pain and function for 12-24 months.

At Ballarat Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, we have the capacity to provide any of these treatments, and the experience and knowledge to help you choose which treatment is the best one for you.