Exercise helps reduce arthritis pain

Dear Dr. Roach: I am a 72-year-old male disabled veteran. I started work out of high school in a factory where I did hard but not brutal work. Then went to Vietnam, where I injured my knee and had to be operated on. Next, I worked for an airline as a baggage handler then became a licensed aircraft mechanic, both of which were hard labor.

I have had one knee and one hip replaced, which was brutal and only slightly successful painwise. I now find myself with arthritis in most of my joints. My feet, knees, hips and back keep me from being active at all. I take 90 mg of narcotics per day from the Veterans Affairs doctor, which does not help very much but the pain is very bad when I forget to take them. I have had various shots in my knees and hips with diminishing results, acupuncture, physical therapy, etc., all to no avail.

My pain has turned me into a couch potato. This is very bad for my mental health. I try not to constantly complain to my wife. She helps me the best she can, but no one wants to be with someone who never leaves the couch. I heard about a new drug called tanezumab and that its clinical trials were canceled because it

“worked too well.” Any advice?

Answer:

Tanezumab is a novel drug and represents a potential new treatment for pain from osteoarthritis. It is a monoclonal antibody against nerve growth factor. There have been 39 trials on tanezumab, including promising trials showing reduction of pain and improvement of activity.

From a drug company perspective, there’s no such thing as a drug working “too well.” The most recent news I saw was that the Food and Drug Administration was planning to make a decision as soon as December 2020. It’s possible a decision will be made while this column is in press.

Other advice I would give is that being a “couch potato” is just not good for osteoarthritis. Regular exercise of any kind helps reduce pain.

Being in a pool is one activity that virtually all of my patients with severe osteoarthritis can tolerate. You might check on what is available in your area.