"We all know that running causes a bit of inflammation and soreness and thats just the price you pay for cardiovascular health. You know no pain no gain. Well maybe not. New research from BYU exercise science professors finds that proinflammatory molecules actually go down in the knee joint after running. In other words it appears running can reduce joint inflammation. It flies in the face of intuition said study coauthor Matt Seeley associate professor of exercise science at BYU. This idea that longdistance running is bad for your knees might be a myth. In a study recently published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology Seeley and a group of BYU colleagues as well as Dr. Eric Robinson from Intermountain Healthcare measured inflammation markers in the knee joint fluid of several healthy men and women aged  both before and after running. The researchers found that the specific markers they were looking for in the extracted synovial fluidtwo cytokines named GMCSF and ILdecreased in concentration in the subjects after  minutes of running. When the same fluids were extracted before and after a nonrunning condition the inflammation markers stayed at similar levels. What we now know is that for young healthy individuals exercise creates an antiinflammatory environment that may be beneficial in terms of longterm joint health said study lead author Robert Hyldahl BYU assistant professor of exercise science. Hyldahl said the study results indicate running is chondroprotective which means exercise may help delay the onset of joint degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis. This is potentially great news since osteoarthritisthe painful disease where cartilage at the end of bones wears down and gradually worsens over timeaffects about  million people in the United States. This study does not indicate that distance runners are any more likely to get osteoarthritis than any other person Seeley said. Instead this study suggests exercise can be a type of medicine. Researchers which included then undergraduate and now grad student Alyssa Evans and PhD student Sunku Kwon now plan to turn their attention to study subjects with previous knee injuries. Specifically theyre looking to do similar tests on people who have suffered ACL injuries. BYU professors Sarah Ridge and Ty Hopkins were also coauthors on the study."