Fitness

Adding exercise into treatment may reduce substance use, study shows | CNN

Published

1 year ago

April 26, 2023

Adding exercise into treatment may reduce substance use, study shows | CNN

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One key to combating dependancy could also be train, based on a brand new examine.

Researchers undertook a assessment of the prevailing literature round bodily exercise and its relationship to substance use, and so they discovered that common train was related to lowered use in about 75% of the research investigating that query, based on the evaluation.

The assessment, printed Wednesday within the journal PLOS ONE, checked out 43 research with greater than 3,000 complete contributors. Along with a discount or cessation in substance use, the research additionally discovered improved markers of bodily well being and decreased depressive signs, the examine mentioned.

“Individuals suppose that in therapy folks ought to solely do psychotherapeutic remedies … however that’s not what we’ve seen in our examine,” mentioned lead examine creator Florence Piché, a doctoral scholar and researcher at Université de Montréal in Canada. “It’s very useful to do bodily exercise along with the remedies.”

There are limitations to the findings. The assessment discovered that many of the research the researchers examined had a excessive danger of bias, which means extra analysis is required to substantiate their findings, mentioned Dr. Aaron Kandola, analysis fellow at Medical Analysis Council Unit for Lifelong Well being and Ageing at College Faculty London.

The research had been additionally in a roundabout way comparable sufficient to construct a complete and generalizable understanding of the connection, Kandola mentioned in an e mail. Kandola was not a part of the analysis.

Nonetheless, the findings had been nonetheless important and helpful, he added.

“Substance use problems are a serious public well being downside missing low-cost, evidence-based options,” he mentioned, including that substance use problems are worsening in lots of high-income nations — together with the US.

Discovering extra accessible options to this dysfunction is particularly essential as a result of it typically happens with different psychological well being issues resembling melancholy and anxiousness, which disproportionately have an effect on folks with fewer socioeconomic sources and areas with greater deprivation, he mentioned.

Bodily exercise could also be a helpful and accessible a part of a therapy plan for substance use dysfunction, mentioned Dr. Mark Smith, professor of psychology at Davidson Faculty in North Carolina. Smith was not a part of the analysis.

“I believe there’s now a ample quantity of knowledge to point that numerous types of bodily exercise and train are typically efficient at lowering substance use in people in search of therapy,” he mentioned.

Most individuals can profit from participating in bodily exercise, Kandola mentioned.

One profit the research discovered is enhancements in bodily well being resembling cardiovascular endurance or muscle energy, Smith mentioned. And though that might not be the first purpose of the analysis, he mentioned this discovering is essential as a result of it reveals the bodily exercise is doing its job to advertise bodily well being.

The analysis additionally confirmed bodily exercise to be linked with elevated self-efficacy, shallowness and self-confidence, that are identified to be protecting in opposition to substance use, Smith added.

And there’s extra: Bodily exercise has been proven to cut back anxiousness and melancholy, that are main danger components for substance use, Kandola mentioned.

Why may a bit of sweat go such a great distance? Train produces dramatic adjustments all through the mind, Smith mentioned.

Once you train, you’re participating neural pathways which are additionally affected by substance use. There’s lots of proof that train might help to normalize the adjustments that happen to these pathways when utilizing substances, Smith added.

Though the current examine highlighted the advantages of train, it didn’t discover an quantity or depth at which an individual must train to see the advantages, Smith mentioned.

The present Bodily Exercise Pointers for Individuals does suggest that adults get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity bodily exercise and two days of muscle-strengthening exercise.

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One other query that must be requested: Does extra train imply extra profit?

Even with out strong solutions to these questions, it’s a good suggestion for folks with every kind of well being considerations to begin, Kandola mentioned.

In case you don’t have an train behavior already, begin mild with mild actions like transient walks across the block, he mentioned.

“Small quantities of bodily exercise are nonetheless useful and show you how to to construct your health by progressively growing length and depth over time,” Kandola mentioned. “The most important well being advantages are seen in folks shifting from low to medium ranges of bodily health.”

Your train also needs to be enjoyable, Smith mentioned. Liking what you’re doing is an effective way to cut back substance use.

“In case you give people an alternate exercise that they get pleasure from, then by default, substance use will lower. They’ve one thing else to do with their time,” Smith mentioned.

“Now, this doesn’t essentially need to be, you understand, working for hours on a treadmill. You understand, it may very well be going outdoors and enjoying basketball or tennis or pickleball, or no matter your favourite sport is,” he added.

“It could require some trial and error, however discovering the precise sort of bodily exercise (or actions) for you’ll enhance the probabilities of sticking with it for longer,” Kandola mentioned in an e mail. “It can be a great way to satisfy new folks or discover new areas.”

Fitness

Tracking Exercise by Steps or Minutes? Study Finds Either Method Boosts Health

Published

4 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Press Room

Tracking Exercise by Steps or Minutes? Study Finds Either Method Boosts Health

MONDAY, May 20, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Some folks like to count their daily steps, while others prefer exercising for a certain amount of time during a day or a week.

Luckily, either approach boosts health, a new study finds.

Exercise targets based on either step count or minutes are equally associated with lower risks of premature death and heart disease, researchers report in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Given this, personal preferences probably are key when setting up an exercise plan, researchers said.

“For some, especially for younger individuals, exercise may involve activities like tennis, soccer, walking, or jogging, all of which can be easily tracked with steps,” said lead author Dr. Rikuta Hamaya, a researcher with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Preventive Medicine in Boston.

“However, for others, it may consist of bike rides or swimming, where monitoring the duration of exercise is simpler,” Hamaya added in a hospital news release.

Current U.S. exercise guidelines focus on minutes – at least 150 minutes weekly of moderate to vigorous physical activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity.

But smartwatches have made it easier than ever to track step counts, raising the question of whether steps would be better suited for setting exercise goals, researchers said.

“We recognized that existing physical activity guidelines focus primarily on activity duration and intensity but lack step-based recommendations,” Hamaya said.

“With more people using smartwatches to measure their steps and overall health, we saw the importance of ascertaining how step-based measurements compare to time-based targets in their association with health outcomes – is one better than the other?” Hamaya added.

For this new study, researchers analyzed data from more than 14,000 women participating in the national Women’s Health Study.

Between 2011 and 2015, participants 62 and older were asked to wear motion trackers for seven days in a row to record their physical activity, only removing the devices for sleep or water-related activities, researchers said.

On average, the participants engaged in an average of 62 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week, and accumulated nearly 5,200 steps per day.

During an average follow-up of nine years, approximately 9% of participants died and 4% developed heart disease, results show.

The most active women had 30% to 40% lower risk of death or heart disease, regardless of whether minutes or steps were counted, researchers found.

Further, women whose physical activity levels fell within the top three-quarters outlived those in the bottom quarter by an average of 2.2 months based on minutes and 2.3 months based on steps.

The survival advantage persisted regardless of differences in body-mass index, researchers noted.

Either steps or minutes have advantages and disadvantages when it comes to tracking exercise goals, Hamaya said.

Step counts can differ significantly between a 20-year-old and an 80-year-old who walk for 30 minutes at moderate intensity, Hamaya noted.

On the other hand, steps are straightforward to measure and less subject to interpretation compared to time-based exercise intensity, researchers said.

Steps also capture the physical activity contained in everyday living, not just the time spent in exercise. That’s the type of activity most common among older folks, researchers said.

“That’s why it’s important for physical activity guidelines to offer multiple ways to reach goals,” Hamaya said. “Movement looks different for everyone, and nearly all forms of movement are beneficial to our health.”

More information

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has more on physical activity guidelines for Americans.

SOURCE: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, news release, May 20, 2024