Question:
Aerobic Exercise Lifts Depression in Treatment-Resistant Patients?
Answer:
A simple program of regular
aerobic exercise can substantially improve depression scores in
patients with moderate to severe major depression, despite prior
failures with pharmacologic therapy. The new findings provide "grounds for cautious optimism" about the use
of exercise therapy as an alternative treatment for depression, Dr. F.
Dimeo, of the Benjamin Franklin Medical Center, in Berlin, Germany,
and colleagues conclude in the April issue of the British Journal of
Sports Medicine.
The investigators studied the effects of aerobic exercise on
depression in 12 patients with major depressive episodes ranging from
12 to 96 weeks in duration. Of the patients, 10 were characterized as
having refractory depression after failing to improve during treatment
with at least two different classes of antidepressants for at least 4
weeks during the current episode. The intervention consisted of
interval training (walking speed) on a treadmill for 30 minutes a day
for 10 days.
Overall, exercise training caused a clinically significant drop in
depression scores during the 10 days. Of the twelve patients in the
study, six demonstrated "substantial" improvements -- including five
of the patients with refractory depression -- two demonstrated slight
improvements and four remained unchanged.
Moreover, there was a high rate of acceptance of the intervention
among the group, Dr. Dimeo told Reuters Health. "Indeed, several
patients asked to continue the training program after the study was
concluded."
The study director added that many questions remain about the role
that aerobic exercise should play in the treatment of depression.
"Aerobic exercise may certainly be used as complementary therapy in
severely depressed patients who receive antidepressants and do not
have contraindications for exercise. Since there is no evidence about
the long-term effects of exercise [and] compliance and outcomes when
stopping training, aerobic exercise should not be used as first-line
therapy for depression until confirmatory studies have been
concluded."
Dr. Dimeo noted that the team has already initiated a larger,
randomized trial of aerobic exercise in depression. Preliminary
results from this study, he said, "are very promising." I'll have to look up that reference. Yep, after just two mornings of walking, I do have a couple of muscles
making their presence known. A very small price to pay for benefits gained. I was a little surprised that I did as well as I did after over 4 winter
months of couch testing. My heart rate was really up there, but that should
improve quickly as I get back in to it.
Just because I love gadgets, I wear a recording HR monitor while I exercise
and keep a log of all the plot charts on my computer to track my progress
and cardiovascular health.
I agree, nothing beats exercise.
Very impressive!! I haven't been swimming in a long time, but yes, it's
definitely one of the best forms of exercise there is. The company is at:
http://www.polarusa.com/
The one I bought is:
http://www.polarusa.com/products/accurex_plus.html
And I also bought the optional computer interface that allows uploading of
the recorded data to the PC for plotting. I think the recording feature is
of very limited use without the ability to upload the data.
http://www.polarusa.com/products/interface_plus.html I originally bought mine from Road Runner Sports at:
http://www.roadrunnersports.com/cgi-bin/rrs/rrs/rrHome.jsp
but I'm not sure if they still carry this model. It does appear to still be
available from Polar directly, and for significantly LESS than I paid for
mine. :-(
It wasn't my first HR watch, but it was my first recording HR watch. I'm
not sure what I would like to get on my next one. This one does pretty much
all that I wanted from it. It shows me exactly how my heart responds during
hours of exercise. There was a better model (I don't remember the model
name) but all it offered was doing a scatter plot of HR jitter, supposedly a
measure of stress on the heart.
It records the current HR every "n" amount of time. If you set it for the
highest sample rate, every 15 seconds, it can hold up to 5.5 hours of
recordings. At the lowest sample rate, every 60 seconds, it holds up to
66.5 hours of recordings.
If you're interested, I can send you a small GIF of the recording I made
this morning. Considering that technology like this used to be reserved for
hospitals, it's amazing.
You just had to post this didn't you? I hate aerobics. Now I have to do them.
