Olympics spark exercise renaissance as five million take up sport

by Taryn Davies | 29 July 2012

Which sport have you taken up?

Over five million more GB adults have been inspired to take up exercise this summer due to a combination of the Olympics, Wimbledon and the UEFA European football championships, of which almost a fifth (907,000) of these people are aged 45 or over.

However, some of these so-called MASTERS (‘Middle Aged Sports, Training & Exercise Re-Starters’) risk long-term injury as a direct result of taking part in sport and exercise, according to the study commissioned by Tissue Regenix Group plc (‘Tissue Regenix’).

The regenerative medical devices company reveals that more than one in five of people who have been inspired to take up sport this summer, say they have already suffered an injury. Indeed over the last 12 months almost one in ten of GB adults have suffered an injury as a direct result of taking part in sport and other activity and of these, 1.15 million are people aged 45 or over – highlighting a potentially unwanted legacy of the Olympics.

The top five sports/activities that British adults have been inspired to take up this summer are:

Rank	Sport/activity	Number of GB adults taking up each sport	Rank	Sport/activity	Number of ‘MASTERS’ taking up each sport
1	Walking	1.9 million	1	Walking	537,000
2	Swimming	1.7 million	2	Swimming	206,000
3	Running	1.6 million	3	Cycling	171,000
4	Football	1.4 million	4	Gym	159,000
5	Gym	1.2 million	5	Football	102,000

Source: Tissue Regenix, July 2012

Unsurprisingly, those adults who have taken up running over this summer are the most likely to have suffered an injury, followed by football and swimming. But budding Bradley’s should also beware as 7% of those who have taken up cycling over the summer have suffered an injury, according to Tissue Regenix.

According to the NHS, the rise in middle-aged sportsmen and women is likely to result in a 20 per cent increase in knee replacement surgery within ten years. Each knee replacement is estimated to cost the NHS £7,600 but is inappropriate for those wishing to continue an active lifestyle.

Antony Odell, Managing Director, Tissue Regenix said: “Whilst it’s fantastic that so many people have been inspired to take up sport this summer, inevitably some will injure themselves, but this need not sound the end of their sporting renaissance. Medical advances are coming such that damaged knees and shoulders can be easily repaired or replaced without the need for repetitive invasive surgery.

“For instance our dCELL® process should enable people who have damaged ligaments, meniscus or cartilage in their knees, ankles and shoulders to have a fairly simple, and crucially, a one off operation. This is far more satisfactory for patients than standard orthopaedic replacements which generally need to be replaced every ten years. It will also be significantly more cost-effective for the NHS.”

Antony Odell concludes, “Regenerative medicine is increasingly becoming a focus for the healthcare industry and stem cell companies are spending millions of pounds developing ways of handling and delivering stem cell treatments to patients. However, our patented technology shows that we can deliver treatments effectively but much more efficiently and potentially at a significantly lower cost.”