Contact: Robert Logan phone: 573 882-4714; fax: 573 884-5400
email: [email protected]

Exercise can help adults and children with arthritis

Five international experts will discuss how exercise helps adults and children with arthritis from 8:45 to 11:00 a.m. Monday, April 28, in the Main Lounge of the National Press Club.

* Greg Heath, D. HSc., M.P.H., from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will present some new national information about how exercise improves the health of adults and children with arthritis. Dr. Heath helped author the 1996 Surgeon General's report on Physical Activity and Health. The Surgeon General's report concluded, "physical activity is essential for maintaining the health of joints."

* Mary J. Bell, M.D., Sunnybrook Health Science Center in Toronto, will explain innovative outreach efforts that tailor exercises to local communities and group settings.

*Marian Minor, Ph.D., P.T., University of Missouri-Columbia, will present new findings on how long exercise helps persons with inflammatory forms of arthritis. (Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and ankylosing spondylitis).

* Susan E. Klepper, Ph.D., P.T, private practice, Trenton, N.J, will explain newfound effects of aerobic exercise on children with arthritis and related diseases.

* Ronnen Roubenoff, M.D., Tufts University, will summarize his pioneering research that uses resistance strengthening exercises to improve the immune systems of people with rheumatoid arthritis.

"Arthritis is the most common reason why people limit physical activity," Minor says. "However, being inactive may increase arthritis problems. Many people with arthritis are weaker, less flexible, and have more pain than necessary due to complications of inactivity."

This is the third annual National Press Club seminar for the news media, government leaders and health policy officials sponsored by the University of Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (MARRTC). This news conference is a partnership between the MU Schools of Medicine and Journalism.

Each April, the National Press Club seminar seeks to focus the news media's attention on arthritis and related musculoskeletal diseases. The intent of this seminar is to highlight new research on the management of arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases and to emphasize the biopsychosocial aspects of the disease. This seminar is presented as a service for the national arthritis and related musculoskeletal diseases research community.

The National Press Club is located at 14th and F Streets NW in downtown Washington, D.C. MARRTC is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) within the U.S. Department of Education. #