Working out regularly may brighten the mood of people with chronic health problems like cancer, heart disease and back pain, according to the first sweeping look at previous research.

But it’s no miracle cure: on average, six people would need to hit the gym or go for a jog for one person to see a mood improvement.

“It’s a nice piece of evidence and I’m pleased because I like the concept,” said Dr. Alan J. Gelenberg, who chairs the department of psychiatry at Penn State University in Hershey.

Gelenberg, who wasn’t involved in the new work, said the findings jibe with guidelines from the American Psychiatric Association, which recommends regular exercise against the blues.

“There is some evidence for its use to prevent depression, and there actually is evidence for exercise as a treatment in itself,” he told Reuters Health.

With the new study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers wanted to weigh the evidence that training can also help chronically ill people who don’t have a diagnosis of depression, but nonetheless may feel down.

That’s important because depressive symptoms could make people less likely to take their meds, could increase their use of health services and decrease their quality of life, said Matthew Herring of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

He and his colleagues combed through 90 previous studies including more than 10,000 people with health problems like cancer, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), fibromyalgia, chronic pain or obesity.

In each study, people had been randomly chosen to do exercises — on average, three times a week over 17 weeks — or not.

According to Herring, people’s depressive symptoms, as rated on a variety of psychological scales, dropped about 22 percent with exercise overall. That’s similar to the effects on fatigue, anxiety, pain and other mental health outcomes.

“The magnitude of the effect of exercise training on depressive symptoms among patients found in our review is small but significant,” he told Reuters Health by email.

Herring added that moderate — at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week — and vigorous — at least 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise per week — seemed to help the most.

How long will benefits last?

Still, the report comes with several caveats. for instance, it’s not clear how many people with chronic illnesses are able to work out at sufficient intensity, and many participants did in fact drop out of the studies.

Also, it’s not clear how long the effects last, how much to exercise and what kind of exercise works better — aerobic training like running or walking or strength training like weightlifting.

“What we don’t know is much more than we do know,” said Gelenberg.

Still, he added, “exercise has a lot of benefits… if someone doesn’t exercise in a stupid way, like a 65-year-old man trying to bench press 200 pounds.”

Gelenberg said people with chronic disease who feel depressed should exercise within a physician’s guidelines and eat a healthy diet.

“I would suggest they indulge themselves in healthy pleasures: people, books, walks, sitting in a pretty place. if they still feel ‘down,’ I’d suggest professional attention to consider psychotherapy or an antidepressant medicine,” he said.

(Corrects duration of exercise interventions in paragraph 9 of story posted on Jan 25, 2012)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

These can help

In your piece “Sure about that cure?” (The Wenatchee World, Dec. 19), Dr. Kelly Gillespie offers sound advice regarding the multiplicity of home remedies for wintertime viral illness — colds and flu. His comment, however, that “there are no studies” that once one has a cold, that taking vitamin C is going to do you any good, is incomplete and misleading. Vitamin C levels in white blood cells drop precipitously, even to levels compatible with scurvy, within 24 hours of the onset of a cold. Most, but not all studies have found reductions in the duration of illness or severity of a cold with oral dosing of vitamin C. A review of 21 placebo-controlled trials found that the average reduction in duration of symptoms was 23 percent. these data are referenced in Dr. Alan Gaby’s new book, “Nutritional Medicine” (Concord NH, Fritz Perlberg, © 2011 pp. 1,157-8) and my 2001 book, “Clinician’s Guide to Holistic Medicine” (New York, McGraw-Hill p. 290). further, Dr. Gillespie notes that overdosing of vitamin C can cause diarrhea and gastrointestinal problems. the latter term is not described, but diarrhea does occur with very high doses which vary greatly from person to person. as doses are increased, diarrhea is always preceded by warning signs of increased flatus. No studies have ever shown any serious side effects.

While not mentioned, the habit of sucking on zinc lozenges (gluconate or acetate) also shortens the duration of colds 20 to 45 percent (Gaby, p. 1,168). as for influenza, a 1997 European study of 262 persons who experienced the flu by laboratory criteria showed that twice daily doses of N-acetyl-Cysteine (NAC, an amino acid derivative) totally eliminated the clinical symptoms in 79 percent compared to 25 percent in those who took a placebo (DeFlora S et al. Eur Respir J 1997; 10:1535).

These are why-not options underwritten by significant research and carrying practically no downside risk.

Bob Anderson, MD

Simply irresponsible

Regarding Tracy Warner’s editorial “No choice: More tax cuts for all” (The World, Dec. 14) regarding an e-mail he received from Democratic Sen. Patty Murray that was “apologetic, almost.” She wrote she had to vote yes to extend the current tax rates. No, senator, you didn’t. the bill passed 81-19. You knew it would by a landslide. Writing you had to was an out-and-out … um … uh … well readers, fill in the blank.

Sen. Murray stated “The Republican game plan is simply irresponsible … adding to our debt is wrong.” Sen. Murray, since when has increasing the debt been wrong to you? For the past 18 years you’ve flippantly expected to resolve all financial issues by borrowing, borrowing, borrowing instead of approaching it with the mindset that YOU need to reduce expenditures, by a paltry $900 billion in this case.

It’s exactly your mindset that’s led to our $14 trillion dollar debt. You view our country’s financial crisis as nonexistent. It’s a game of Monopoly to you. No real life consequences. Senator, just who is being “simply irresponsible”?

Mr. Warner took a global view when writing “Of course, when this (tax bill) passes Congress will be doing what it always does — promise to worry about the deficit tomorrow.” Politics should have been made local in this case, telling Sen. Murray that borrowing more is simply irresponsible and asking for her personal plan to reduce expenditures to justify voting yes. Democrat Sen. Maria Cantwell voted yes, too. She should have been asked the same thing.

Sen. Murray and Sen. Cantwell will continue to play Monopoly unless the media demands personal and detailed accountability from them. until then they’ll continue to be, well, simply irresponsible.

Rich Lane

Cut off

I am starting up a grassroots movement calling on certain groups to get together a petition signed, sealed and delivered to the Washington state Legislature, including a march, calling for a two-thirds vote to override Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1053.

Nobody asked to be born handicapped, no one asked to go blind, no one asked to be born with cerebral palsy, no one asked to have special needs, but nevertheless, there are those who have those disabilities they did not ask for. this is what they have.

And then there are the healthy and not so disabled, those who never thought that it could happen to them. For example, truck drivers and heavy equipment operators — one day they are healthy, but the next day, they may lose their sight, being then blind and not being able to drive, being productive one day but then on the next day they have to rely upon the system, the same as those afflicted by a stroke, heart attack or sleep apnea.

We did not ask for those conditions. I myself have sleep apnea to where I am on Social Security disability. I would rather be out driving and working again in truck driving instead of having to depend on the system, and the thing about it is that I will never be able to drive trucks ever again because of sleep apnea.

In conclusion, for a society that sanctifies human life and humanity as a whole, I cannot accept initiatives that would allow the system to cut off people who need medical assistance to stay alive, who will not be able to get the medical aid they need.

Robert E. Nicoll

All letters must include the author’s signature, address and telephone number. there is a 300-word limit, and all letters are subject to editing.

Only one letter per author will be published each 30 days.

Send letters to the Safety Valve, Box 1511, Wenatchee, WA 98807.

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