Exercises in inflammatory rheumatic diseases

Abstract

Chronical inflammatory diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, that basically affect joints and muscles cause disability, due to the side effects of medicines, comorbid cases, and joint destruction in years. Despite the recent improvements achieved in pharmacologic treatments, the functional losses due to rheumatic diseases and the decrease in quality of life and labor loss thereof can not be avoided. It is recommended that patients should do exercises and physical activities together with medical treatment in order to keep their functional situation. The purpose of the exercise in a rheumatic disease is to keep the joint capacity, obtain flexibility, keep and increase muscle strength, increase endurance, and increase aerobic capacity. Adapting to an exercise is an important issue in inflammatory diseases. Physician-patient cooperation is required to achieve patient adaptation. Inıtially, the exercises should be made under supervision. The exercise program should be customized for patients. Relatives should be incorporated in the program. In addition, suppressing the disease activity helps the patient adapt to the program. Before starting the program, the patient should be scored according to the scales suggested for disease activity parameters and exercise capacity, and the patient should be monitored at regular intervals. Suggestions for aerobic exercises against increasing cardiovascular risk and inflammation and exercises for muscle strength have been flourishing in recent years. In our country, one of the basic fields of physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians is inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The exercise protocols to be applied to inflammatory rheumatic diseases should be standardized, and the studies on them should be increased.