Trauma to the knees or other joints caused by running and strenuous exercise can cause arthritis, which has become one of the leading causes of mobility loss in the aging population. Researchers spent more than 10 years tracking, and finally they found: long-distance running can significantly reduce the risk of arthritis, while walking does not. About 7-25% of Caucasians over the age of 55 will suffer from arthritis, which is also one of the top four diseases that cause physical decline in women. Sun Hao, Department of Orthopedics, White City Hospital As people’s awareness of fitness increases, scientific, low-body-injury exercise has become a higher pursuit for fitness. However, in the face of the above-mentioned problems, many people often think: long-distance running, or relatively strenuous exercise, may hurt the joints, and should reduce this type of exercise. Now, to put it in perspective, being overweight can also put an individual at higher risk of arthritis, and running may reduce weight (for those who don’t stick to it, go face the wall). The same is true for the relationship between running and arthritis. Cartilage thinning and proteoglycan loss are the main features of arthritis, while running and other similar exercises have the benefit of reducing cartilage proteoglycan loss and promoting cartilage thickening, which in turn increases joint viscoelasticity. Therefore, it seems that the benefits of running can offset some of the damage caused to the knee and other joints, and may even reduce the risk of arthritis in individuals? Unlike the normal knee (left), osteoarthritis (right) is associated with varying degrees of articular cartilage thinning, bone fragmentation and even cartilage fragmentation. Paul T. Williams and colleagues in the Life Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory surveyed 90,000 participants over 10 years to answer this question. The largest statistical analysis and study in the field to date has provided researchers with excellent data and results to determine whether running and similar exercise exercises increase or decrease the risk of osteoarthritis in the knee. The paper was published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise on July 1 of this year. Previously, researchers have studied arthritis cases through controlled studies and concluded that there is a significant correlation between arthritis and exercise. At the same time, a number of prospective studies have been conducted on this issue, but they have reached different conclusions. Animal studies on the question of whether exercise increases or decreases the incidence of arthritis have also yielded inconsistent results. Williams and colleagues, who followed 74,752 regular runners and 14,625 walkers over a long period of time with exercise questionnaires and arthritis, found that over 7.1 years, 2004 of these runners had arthritis and 259 had hip replacements, while 695 of the walkers had arthritis and 114 had hip replacements over 5.7 years. In contrast, 695 of the walkers had arthritis and 114 had hip replacements within 5.7 years. The researchers concluded from the analysis that running significantly reduces the risk of arthritis in people. In their discussion, the researchers suggest that the relative reduction in the risk of arthritis in individuals is likely due to two factors: 1) running increases the ligament strength and cartilage thickness of the joints; 2) running is a relatively effective weight loss effect, and weight loss reduces the stress on the joints. The authors conclude by suggesting that this theory is not necessarily valid for professional athletes, but it is useful for those who want to get fit through sports. People who have injuries in the joint area are better off waiting for the symptoms to ease before doing proper running.