Excersise can to some extent alleviates depression.
April 25, 2006 (Press Release) --
If there’s one person associated with the role of exercise in depression it’s James Blumenthal, Ph.D., professor of medical psychology at Duke University. He was one of the first to test aerobic exercise in people with moderate to severe depression. The patients, sedentary men and women over age 50, worked out for 30 minutes three times a week in groups. Their response was compared with that of similarly depressed patients who received either standard therapy with Zoloft or drug and exercise combined.
Patients in all three groups experienced equally significant reductions in depression symptoms, and remission rates were comparable–60 percent to 65 percent. Surprisingly, combining two effective treatments, drug and exercise, added no benefit. In fact, the only difference among the groups was in speed of response. The medication-alone group began improving within a few weeks; exercisers took a few weeks longer. But the effects of exercise lasted longer. Six months after treatment ended, fewer exercisers had relapsed into depression. Among the patients no longer depressed, only 8 percent of the exercisers relapsed, compared with over 30 percent in the medication group. “That was a big surprise,” Dr. Blumenthal confides. Contrary to his own expectations, he found that exercise was beneficial against severe depression. “Those with moderate to severe depression responded as well as those with mild depression,” he says.
Exercise undertaken to combat depression improves aerobic capacity and cardiovascular fitness, and Dr. Blumenthal makes a strong case for aerobic activities such as walking and jogging. “It was a surprise to us but we found that the largest improvements in aerobic capacity correlated with the greatest reductions in depression.”
How much exercise is enough?
“Our data show that 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week is sufficient for reducing depressive symptoms,” says Blumenthal. That’s the minimum recommended for cardiovascular benefit. Patients who responded well to exercise and maintained their regimen had a much smaller risk of relapsing. “We found an inverse relationship between exercise and the risk of relapsing,” says Blumenthal. “The more one exercised, the less likely one would see their depressive symptoms return.”
That has led him to enunciate what he calls the 50-50 rule. “Exercise was a significant predictor of being free of depression at the end of follow-up,” he says. “For every 50 minutes of exercise a week there is a 50 percent decrease in the likelihood of being depressed.”
Source: http://www.msn.com/
Patients in all three groups experienced equally significant reductions in depression symptoms, and remission rates were comparable–60 percent to 65 percent. Surprisingly, combining two effective treatments, drug and exercise, added no benefit. In fact, the only difference among the groups was in speed of response. The medication-alone group began improving within a few weeks; exercisers took a few weeks longer. But the effects of exercise lasted longer. Six months after treatment ended, fewer exercisers had relapsed into depression. Among the patients no longer depressed, only 8 percent of the exercisers relapsed, compared with over 30 percent in the medication group. “That was a big surprise,” Dr. Blumenthal confides. Contrary to his own expectations, he found that exercise was beneficial against severe depression. “Those with moderate to severe depression responded as well as those with mild depression,” he says.
Exercise undertaken to combat depression improves aerobic capacity and cardiovascular fitness, and Dr. Blumenthal makes a strong case for aerobic activities such as walking and jogging. “It was a surprise to us but we found that the largest improvements in aerobic capacity correlated with the greatest reductions in depression.”
How much exercise is enough?
“Our data show that 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week is sufficient for reducing depressive symptoms,” says Blumenthal. That’s the minimum recommended for cardiovascular benefit. Patients who responded well to exercise and maintained their regimen had a much smaller risk of relapsing. “We found an inverse relationship between exercise and the risk of relapsing,” says Blumenthal. “The more one exercised, the less likely one would see their depressive symptoms return.”
That has led him to enunciate what he calls the 50-50 rule. “Exercise was a significant predictor of being free of depression at the end of follow-up,” he says. “For every 50 minutes of exercise a week there is a 50 percent decrease in the likelihood of being depressed.”
Source: http://www.msn.com/
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