A study has found that doing two hours of exercise per week can reduce joint pain and cut down on visits to the doctor.
The findings are based on an analysis of 40,000 people in the UK suffering from hip, back or knee problems who took part in two hours of exercise each week over a three-month period.
Nuffield Health, Frontier Economics and Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) analysed the exercise programme offered free of charge by Nuffield to the 40,000 participants, who were able to train in its gyms.
Participants took part in a two-hour session at a Nuffield gym led by a rehabilitation specialist.
After three months, patients reported less joint pain on average and visited their doctors less frequently during this period.
“Tailored, structured exercise is one of the most effective treatments for people with long-term conditions. If movement were a pill, it would be the most powerful drug on the planet, yet it remains under-prescribed. Integrating it as a treatment into mainstream healthcare would transform lives on a scale no drug could,” said Dr Davina Deniszczyc, Nuffield Health’s charity and medical director.
