don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

What is it about exercise that makes it better than medicine? Well, for starters you can enjoy it when you are well and it can help keep you that way. For another, the folks with whom you associate while exercising are usually a lot more cheerful than those you meet when sick, especially in hospitals and other places where sick people hang out. Other reasons that I prefer it to medicine include my sense that exercise is better than medical procedures (tummy tucks, for example) for purposes of looking good and athletic attire is much sexier than the gowns nurses make you wear for medical tests. I'm sure you probably have your own reasons to prefer exercise over medicine. It seems pretty obvious to you and me.

Yet, it is NOT obvious to large numbers of Americans that exercise is the best medicine, or else more people would be engaged in it. The American Heart Association claims that only 22 percent of Americans get enough exercise to have healthy hearts, though they get plenty of medicine! About 54 percent of Americans don't exercise at all! This almost sounds suicidal. The Surgeon General considers minimal exercise as that which burns 150 calories a day, or 1,000 calories a week. This amount of burning requires a 150-pound person to exercise for only 30 to 45 minutes -- that's all.

I don't like to dwell on risk factors. Still, if you know someone who just can't seem to appreciate the POSITIVE benefits of exercise, remind him or her of some of the NEGATIVE things that can be avoided by relying on it rather than medicines. Here is a partial summary of some illness conditions that will require medicines (and more) if insufficient exercise is done over time.

Exercise strengthens the muscle with the best work ethic in the human body, namely, the heart. Regular exercise that reaches a so-called "target heart rate" -- that's 60 percent to 75 percent of maximal heart rate, makes that muscle beat more efficiently. It also strengthens arteries and improves blood circulation. A few thousand studies going back nearly to the Middle Ages show that regular exercise lowers the risk of needing medicine for heart disease by half. Of course, it also lowers blood pressure and overall cholesterol levels while raising the level of HDL, the high density "good" cholesterol that helps remove the harmful LDL, or "bad" low density cholesterol, from your arteries.

Exercise benefits people at risk for diabetes, both type one and two. It helps maintain proper glucose levels, helps prevent large blood vessel and heart (cardiovascular) disease and reduces the need for insulin for those who have either type of diabetes. Exercise is great for managing weight and toning, firming and the like -- and by avoiding the plague of obesity, you also reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. You have to "spend" (burn) more calories than you consume or you will gain weight. Most experts claim that regular exercise decreases appetite (I personally have never found that to be true) and increases metabolism (definitely true!), so you burn calories more efficiently.

Exercise is excellent for reducing the pain, inflammation and stiffness of arthritis. Exercise increases blood supply to muscles. It also improves joint flexibility and strengthens muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Exercise is known to reduce the risk and relieve the symptoms of clinical depression and anxiety. One study published a year ago in the Archives of Internal Medicine reported that exercise improved mood after 16 weeks better than medicines, prescription antidepressants in particular. It does this by releasing endorphins and other brain chemicals that naturally improve mood while reducing pain.

As noted, these are just the negative good reasons why exercise is better than medicine, in my opinion. Do you agree? Look on the bright side and be well.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of exercise and fitness. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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