My Aunt Helen once said to me "Sooner or later ole Uncle Arthur-Itis will get you." She lived to be 99 years old, so apparently Aunt Helen was able to hold Uncle Arthur at bay.

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common medical conditions, affecting an estimated 15.8 million Americans. Usually it is chronic and occurs when the cartilage erodes that normally cushions the joint and protects it from impact. As bone rubs against bone, a person will feel pain and have difficulty moving the joint. Osteoarthritis can range from mild to severe and age is a leading risk factor.

Symptoms of osteoarthritis include joint pain and swelling, limited flexibility, grinding sensation with joint motion, and numbness or tingling in an extremity.

In Aunt Helens day, doctors usually told the arthritis sufferer to rest the joints. But if she were here today, her doctor would likely suggest exercise and/or drugs or dietary supplements instead.

There are prescription drugs available that help many people and your doctor may recommend one of them. Sometimes he may have to try several in order to find one that helps you without undesirable side effects.

Another new treatment is a series of hyaluronate injections. This provides lubrication and nutrition to the joint; however some studies have found no benefit.

Also available are dietary supplements that help with arthritis pain. Studies suggest that glucosamine sulfate, an over-the-counter supplement, may provide benefit for those with osteoarthritis in the knees. Other non-prescription supplements include chondroitin and MSM which are often combined with glucosamine into one capsule. Another option is SAM-E, a product available in health food stores, which some people find to be of benefit. SAM-E also helps combat depression and should not be taken with prescription drugs for depression.

Recently interest has developed in the role of exercise for arthritis. Dr. Ronenn Roubenoff, MD, MHS, a rheumatologist and associate professor in the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University in Boston, says, Often what happens with someone who has arthritis is that a doctor says to go out and walk in order to reduce the pain. So the patient tries it. But in people with arthritis, the knee is the joint most commonly afflicted, followed by the hip, so walking hurts and that leads to a negative cycle. The person stops exercising and gains weight because theyre not engaged in any physical activity. The extra weight then puts even more pressure on the joints and the pain feels even worse. Indeed for every pound you weigh, each step you take puts up to 3 pounds of pressure across your knees and hips. Every step you take down, as when you are descending a staircase or stepping off a bus, puts up to 6 pounds of pressure on your lower limb joints per pound of body weight. Gain just 10 extra pounds and youre facing as many as 60 extra pounds of pressure on your knees every time you step off a curb.

Dr Roubenoff, along with Miriam Nelson, PhD and Kristin Baer, PhD, of Tufts designed a study to test whether certain kinds of exercises not generally recommended for people with arthritis would help them move about more freely and without pain.

After just 4 months, the two dozen exercisers in the Tufts study experienced a 43 percent reduction in pain, compared with just 12 percent in a control group that did not do any strength training. And physical function in the exercise group improved by 44 percent overall--almost twice as much as in the control group.

Why is it that strength training can free up a person with arthritis in a way that aerobics alone cannot? How can strength exercise help a person with knee or hip arthritis to walk and get around better, when walking without strength training first might only cause more pain and immobility?

Dr Roubenoff says: Think how a car functions on a bumpy road. Its the role of the shock absorbers to take each bump as it comes so that a jarring shock isnt sent up to the passengers. If the shocks fail, the cars spring and axle assembly absorb the jolt, but the passengers really feel it. In your body the muscles are the shock absorbers. The joints are the springs and axles. Thus the better shape the muscles are in, the better they can take each shock as the body hits the ground, sparing arthritic joints and thereby sparing the person further pain.

Strength training directly targets the muscles and when they are stronger, you can walk and get around better because the joints affected by arthritis are relieved of much of their shock bearing burden.

I can testify that strengthening leg muscles help relieve arthritis pain because I constantly hear participants in my strength exercise classes tell me how getting stronger has helped relieve their arthritis pain in knees, hips and shoulders.

Now youre probably asking, What exercises should I do? Squats are the exercise most recommended for arthritic knees--they help strengthen the quadriceps, the muscles in the front of the thighs. For instructions on doing them properly to avoid injury, visit my web site: www.StrongOver40.com. My book Over 40 & Gettin Stronger contains an easy to learn weight training workout for the entire body.

While squats help most people, I find that one person out of everiy 100 cannot do squats without pain--they should not do them and should check with their doctor.

Phyllis Rogers is not liable for any injury incurred while doing the exercises recommended in this article.