Aerobic exercise such as walking, as well as strength training, can ease symptoms and improve quality of life. Getty Images
Aerobic exercise such as walking, as well as strength training, can ease symptoms and improve quality of life. Getty Images
Aerobic exercise such as walking, as well as strength training, can ease symptoms and improve quality of life. Getty Images
Aerobic exercise such as walking, as well as strength training, can ease symptoms and improve quality of life. Getty Images

Arthritis sufferers told to lose weight instead of taking painkillers


Paul Carey
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People with arthritis are being told that exercise and losing weight are a better therapy than painkillers such as paracetamol.

Pain can be reduced if overweight people shed the pounds, according to new NHS guidance from the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).

It advises that aerobic exercise and strength training can ease symptoms and improve quality of life.

Starting exercise programmes may initially make the pain worse, but this should settle down, the guidance suggests.

Nice also gives recommendations on the use of medicines, such as offering non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) but not offering paracetamol, glucosamine or strong opioids.

It said there was a risk of addiction with strong opioids, while new evidence suggests little or no benefit from some medicines when it comes to quality of life and pain levels.

In the guidance, doctors are told to diagnose osteoarthritis — the most common form of arthritis — themselves, without further investigation in people aged 45 or over who have activity-related joint pain.

Patients should also have no morning joint-related stiffness, or morning stiffness that lasts no longer than 30 minutes, to be diagnosed this way.

Tailored exercise programmes should be offered, with an explanation that “doing regular and consistent exercise, even though this may initially cause discomfort, will be beneficial for their joints”.

Exercising in the long term also increases its benefits, the guidance says.

When it comes to weight loss, people will be told that “any amount of weight loss is likely to be beneficial, but losing 10% of their body weight is likely to be better than 5%.”

Patients can also be referred for hip or knee replacement if their condition cannot be managed in other ways, and referrals should not be held off due to age, sex or obesity.

Dr Paul Chrisp, director of the centre for guidelines at Nice, said: “Osteoarthritis can cause people discomfort and prevent them from undertaking some of their normal daily activities.

“However, there is evidence which shows muscle strengthening and aerobic exercise can have an impact on not just managing the condition, but also providing people with an improved quality of life.

“Beginning that journey can be uncomfortable for some people at first, and they should be supported and provided with enough information to help them to manage their condition over a long period of time.

“Whilst topical and sometimes oral NSAIDs remain an important treatment option for osteoarthritis, we have taken the decision to not recommend some painkillers, such as paracetamol and some opioids, for osteoarthritis.

“This is because new evidence has shown there was little or no benefit to people’s quality of life, pain or psychological distress and particularly in the case of strong opioids, there was evidence that they can cause harm in the longer term, including possible addiction.”

In the UK, more than 10 million people have arthritis or other similar conditions that affect the joints.

The most affected areas are the knees, hips and small hand joints.

Tracey Loftis, head of policy and public affairs at the charity Versus Arthritis, said: “We’ve seen first-hand the benefits that people with osteoarthritis can get in being able to access appropriate physical activity, especially when in a group setting. Something like exercise can improve a person’s mobility, help manage their pain and reduce feelings of isolation.

“But our own research into the support given to people with osteoarthritis showed that far too many do not have their conditions regularly reviewed by healthcare professionals, and even fewer had the opportunity to access physical activity support.

“The lack of alternatives means that, in many cases, many people are stuck on painkillers that are not helping them to live a life free from pain.

“While we welcome the draft Nice guidelines, healthcare professionals need further resources and support to better understand their role in promoting treatment like physical activity for people with osteoarthritis.

“There is clearly a need for people with arthritis to be given a bigger voice so that their health needs are not ignored.”

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Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.

Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic 

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Timeline

1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line

1962
250 GTO is unveiled

1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company

1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens

1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made

1987
F40 launched

1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent

2002
The Enzo model is announced

2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi

2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled

2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives

2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company

2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street

2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Inter Milan 2 (Vecino 65', Barella 83')

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Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)

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Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)

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Burnley v Watford (9pm)

Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)

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Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission Seven-speed automatic

Power 510hp @ 5,500rpm

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Fuel economy, combined 9.2L / 100km

Saturday's results

West Ham 2-3 Tottenham
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton
Bournemouth 1-2 Wolves
Brighton 0-2 Leicester City
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Everton 0-2 Norwich City
Watford 0-3 Burnley

Manchester City v Chelsea, 9.30pm 

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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Key changes

Commission caps

For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:

• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term). 

• On the protection component, there is a cap  of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).

• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated. 

• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.

• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.

Disclosure

Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.

“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”

Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.

Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.

“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.

Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.

Updated: June 20, 2023, 11:22 AM`