Can light activity help prevent the onset of a disability?

It's important to understand and appreciate that when a person is suffering from a serious disability, it not only affects their ability to work, but also their ability to do the things that you might otherwise take for granted including dressing yourself, making dinner or even just moving about your home.

In recognition of this rather unfortunate reality, researchers from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine recently set out to determine whether there were any steps that people could take to limit their chances of developing a disability at some point during their lives.

Interestingly enough, their recently published study found that there is indeed something that people can do to reduce their disability risk and that it is not nearly as difficult as they would otherwise imagine.

Here, the researchers worked with a study group consisting of close to 1,700 people, all of whom were taking part in a lengthy study of knee osteoarthritis, a potentially serious condition, and ranged in age from 45 to 79.

These participants, who were free from disability but predisposed to knee arthritis, were given a device called an accelerometer to wear on their bodies while awake for the span of roughly one week. Here, the accelerometers provided the researchers with detailed information on their physical movements during the week, including whether they engaged in light, moderate or otherwise strenuous activities.

After two years elapsed, the researchers then checked back in with each study participant to determine if any had developed a disability of any sort.

They initially determined that those study participants who had engaged in moderate exercise were far less likely to have developed any sort disability.

In a shocking turn of events, however, they also discovered that those study participants who engaged in even light daily physical activity were anywhere from one-third to one-half less likely to develop a disability than those study participants who performed the least amount of light daily physical activity possible. Furthermore, they determined that this light daily physical activity also served to slow the progression of conditions among study participants already diagnosed with disabilities.

According to researchers, the study gives new hope to those adults unable to perform more rigorous exercises, but for whom such simple tasks as cleaning the house, going to the store or taking a stroll remain a viable option.  

"Our findings provide encouragement for adults who may not be candidates to increase physical activity intensity due to health limitations," said one of the primary authors of the study. "Even among those who did almost no moderate activity, the more light activity they did, the less likely they were to develop disability."

While this is certainly an encouraging study, it's important for those unable to perform even the lightest exercise due to their disability to understand that they have options to secure the financial assistance they need and deserve.

Source: Web MD, "Routine housework may help stave off disability," Dennis Thompson, April 30, 2014