depression antidepressant exercise running therapy

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Exercise and Mental Health

exercise depression

A recent review about the relationship between exercise and mental health in the elderly discussed the results of clinical research and biological explanations for the effects of exercise on mental health. Exercise is studied in the elderly in depression, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

We’ve discussed the topic of exercise and depression before on this blog. The conclusion was that exercise is more effective than no treatment and that for mild to moderate depression it is efficacious and for severe depression it should be added to other treatments in the treatment program. In this more recent review on exercise and mental health the focus is on the elderly. Data on elderly patients are scarcer.

Our grоuр еxеrсіѕе for physical therapy rehabilitation, rehabilitative tесhnіԛuеѕ including strength & conditioning, functional mоvеmеnt аnd Pilates. Yоur physiotherapist wіll tаkе a full hіѕtоrу аnd conduct аn аѕѕеѕѕmеnt to іnсludе or еxсludе dіrесtіоnаl based exercises in your program. Thе rеѕult is аn еxеrсіѕе program tаіlоrеd tо уоur clinical nееdѕ. Utilising a rеfоrmеr and trapeze tаblе, ѕtrеngthеnіng аnd lengthening саn be achieved оftеn wіthоut аggrаvаtіоn оf thе іnjurу due tо the low іmрасt on the hірѕ, knееѕ аnd bасk. Our group еxеrсіѕе sessions аrе mоrе thаn a gеnеrіс еxеrсіѕе сlаѕѕ, рrоvіdіng уоu wіth therapeutic intervention for уоur muѕсulоѕkеlеtаl соndіtіоn.

Nevertheless investigations have shown that aerobic exercise at an intensity consistent with public health recommendations can be regarded as an effective treatment of mild and moderate depression. There is some evidence for a possible dose-response effect of exrcise on depression. Treatment not prevention? Indeed, this topic has not yet been extensively studied in the elderly yet.

What does that mean: aerobic exercise at an intensity consistent with public health recommendations?

Basic recommendations from the The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association (AHA).

  • Do moderately intense aerobic exercise 30 minutes a day, five days a week
  • Or Do vigorously intense aerobic exercise 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week
  • And Do eight to 10 strength-training exercises, 10-15 repetitions of each exercise twice to three times per week
  • And If you are at risk of falling, perform balance exercises
  • And Have a physical activity plan.

What is a physical activity plan?
In short consult your GP before starting to exercise.

Older adults or adults with chronic conditions should develop an activity plan with a health professional to manage risks and take therapeutic needs into account. This will maximize the benefits of physical activity and ensure your safety.

Physical Exercise and Alzheimer’s Disease

  • Epidemiological studies have associated exercise with reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease
  • Exercise as treatment for dementia showed efficacy for mood status, psychosocial functioning, physical health and caregiver distress
  • Daily 30 minutes of exercise diminishes the number of hospitalization needed, decreased depressive symptoms, increased quality of life in patients with Alzheimer’s disease
  • In comparison with a sedentary group, the group with a year of exercise intervention improved in quality of life

Physical Exercise and Parkinson’s Disease
Also in Parkinson’s Disease epidemiological studies have shown that exercise can protect against the disease. The disease is associated with tremor, rigidity, and hypokinesia which can result in falls and tiredness.The main advantage of exercise in PD is improvement of functional capabilities due to strength and balance training. This improves motor skills, improves their quality of life and reduces the number of falls.

Although somewhat limited, evidence suggests that exercise training is beneficial to patients with PD, especially in functional capacity and ADLs improvement

The protective effect of exercise can be explained by effects on the brain as can be read in the Neuroscience of Exercise on this blog.

ResearchBlogging.org
Deslandes, A., Moraes, H., Ferreira, C., Veiga, H., Silveira, H., Mouta, R., Pompeu, F., Coutinho, E., & Laks, J. (2009). Exercise and Mental Health: Many Reasons to Move Neuropsychobiology, 59 (4), 191-198 DOI: 10.1159/000223730

 

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Runners High


On pure pedantry the author discusses an article in which the runners high is shown with imaging.
The authors of the article discussed measured the resting endorphin activity in the brains of 10 athletes using PET scans. They then sent the runners out on a 2 hr run. After they returned they put them back in the scanner and looked at endorphin activity again. They compared the images before and after the run to look for what areas of the brain had greater endorphin activity.

This result provides further evidence that the runner’s high is caused by endogenous opioid release in the brain. What is interesting to me is that you see similar brain activation for a variety of different types of rewarding events — whether they be drugs or video games or anything. I seem to remember that they even showed that in academics these parts of the brain are activated when they learn! This similarity of reward activation in a variety of behavioral contexts implies two things: a common system for analyzing rewards and a wide variety of things that humans have found to activate this system. It would appear that it really is “whatever floats your boat” that you find rewarding.

The results and details are presented in this post on pure pedantry

Related post on this blog: What do addiction and running have in common

 

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21 Reasons to Exercise


Terrific post, go read it. For each reason the author provided literature.
21 Powerful Reasons To Exercise


Just a few examples, I leave it up to you to figure out why I did choose these examples

  • Bone strength and prevention of osteoporosis.

  • Better night sleep: time-proved “Insomnia Rx”.

  • Alternative to hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women.

  • New brain cells development (neurogenesis).

 

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Exersice as Antidepressant


Exercise can be of help when suffering from depression. I wouldn’t go that far that exercise is an antidepressant but it is to my opinion a valuable adjunctive treatment to several other treatments such as antidepressants or cognitive behavioral therapy.

On Brandweek NRX a recent placebo-controlled study published in the September issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine is discussed.

Conclusions: The efficacy of exercise in patients seems generally comparable with patients receiving antidepressant medication and both tend to be better than the placebo in patients with depression.

Placebo response rates were high, suggesting that a considerable portion of the therapeutic response is determined by patient expectations, ongoing symptom monitoring, attention, and other nonspecific factors.

Researcher form the department of clinical psychology of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, The Netherlands did a meta-analysis to examine the effects of activity scheduling on depression, on the relative effects of activity scheduling compared to other treatments and on the longer term effects.

You can read the results and a comment on this study on this blog: Activity Scheduling for treatment of depression

An Italian study also found evidence for antidepressant properties of exercise

Want to start but don’t know how, read these 42 Exercise Hacks on Finding Optimism