Physical exercise as non pharmacologic therapy in knee osteoarthritis

Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most frequent joint disorders, and its major symptoms are pain and physical disability. Cartilage regeneration therapies are still under development, and current treatments target pain and disability. Physical activity could be a cheap and effective therapeutic option. However, it is not yet known which types of exercise are the most beneficial, as well as its load or intensity. Therefore, the objective of this work is to integrate all the information about the design of training programs for knee osteoarthritis treatment. All of the selected articles by Talbot and colleagues1 (except one), showed significant improvement in knee pain, physical performance, or both. However, many authors do not describe the main elements of the programs, so its application as a therapy or for contrasting the results is not possible. © 2008 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved. Ejercicio físico como terapia no farmacológica en la artrosis de rodilla