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A new study suggests that exercise can treat depression just as effectively as therapy and antidepressants.

A Cochrane review looked at 73 randomized controlled trials involving nearly 5,000 adults with a depression diagnosis. The studies compared exercise with either other active treatments — such as therapy or medication — or with “inactive interventions,” like being placed on a wait list or in a control group.

The London-based team discovered that exercise may be “moderately effective” compared to no therapy in reducing depression symptoms, according to a press release.

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“There is probably little to no difference in depressive symptoms between people undertaking exercise and those receiving psychological therapy,” the authors noted in a study discussion on Cochrane’s website, and “there may be little to no difference in depressive symptoms between people doing exercise and those taking antidepressants.”

The review found that light- to moderate-intensity exercise was more beneficial for easing depression symptoms than vigorous exercise.

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No single type of physical activity stood out as the best, but mixed programs that included resistance training appeared to be “more effective” than just aerobic exercise. 

Some forms of exercise, like yoga and stretching, were not included in the analysis, but are areas to be further researched, the review noted.

Professor Andrew Clegg, lead author of the review, wrote in a statement that exercise “appears to be a safe and accessible option for helping to manage symptoms of depression.”

“This suggests that exercise works well for some people, but not for everyone, and finding approaches that individuals are willing and able to maintain is important,” he said.

Study limitations and risks

The researchers noted that there was a high risk of bias in some of the studies included in the review, and noted that the long-term effects of exercise on depression symptoms remain uncertain.

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Clegg noted that “larger, high-quality studies” are needed to determine which types of exercise work best and whether the benefits last over time.

The comparison between exercise and other treatments and how they benefit people’s quality of life were also “inconsistent and uncertain.”

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“Adverse events from exercise were not common,” the researchers mentioned. “The small number of participants who experienced them usually reported muscle and joint problems or worsening of depression.”

“Future research should focus on improving the quality of the studies, working out which characteristics of exercise are effective for different people, and ensuring different types of people are included in the studies so that health equity issues can be considered,” they went on.

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About 21 million U.S. adults had at least one major depressive episode in a recent year — equivalent to roughly 8.3% of all U.S. adults, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Depression symptoms include feelings of sadness, hopelessness, anxiety, guilt or irritability, as well as loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities. Fatigue, poor concentration, sleep disturbances, appetite changes and social withdrawal are also red flags, in addition to thoughts about dying or suicidal ideations. 

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The condition is most often treated by antidepressant medications and psychological therapies, such as talk therapy. Anyone who needs help should consult their doctor.

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With an aggressive new strain spreading across the country, this year’s flu season has been marked by record-high hospitalizations and reportedly intense symptoms.

As people look for ways to contain the spread, new research has found that a few simple factors can greatly reduce transmission.

Researchers from the University of Maryland Schools of Public Health and Engineering in College Park and the School of Medicine in Baltimore studied influenza spread by placing flu-positive college students in a hotel room with healthy middle-aged adult volunteers.

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The study, published in the journal PLOS Pathogens, is reportedly the first clinical trial investigating how the flu spreads from naturally infected people to uninfected people, according to a press release.

The participants, including 11 healthy volunteers, lived on a quarantined floor of a Baltimore-area hotel for two weeks. During that time, they simulated interactions, including having conversations, doing physical activities like yoga, and passing around objects like pens and tablets from infected people to the rest of the group.

Researchers monitored the participant’s symptoms, performed daily nasal swabs, and collected saliva and blood samples to test for antibodies, the release stated.

The study also measured the “viral exposure” in the volunteers’ breathing air and ambient air in the activity room. The exhaled breath of the participants was measured by a machine called the Gesundheit II, invented by researcher Dr. Donald Milton and colleagues at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

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At the end of the experiment, none of the healthy individuals had become infected with the flu due to a variety of factors. This included a lack of coughing, as the infected students were holding “a lot of virus in their noses” and only small amounts were “expelled into the air,” the researchers noted.

“Our data suggests key things that increase the likelihood of flu transmission — coughing is a major one,” Dr. Jianyu Lai, post-doctoral research scientist and the study’s lead data analyst and report writer, shared in a statement.

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The other factor was ventilation and air movement, as the air in the study room was “continually mixed rapidly by a heater and dehumidifier, and so the small amounts of virus in the air were diluted,” Lai pointed out.

The researcher added that middle-aged adults are “usually less susceptible” to influenza than younger adults.

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Most researchers assume that airborne transmission is a major factor of disease spread, according to Dr. Donald Milton, professor at SPH’s Department of Global, Environmental and Occupational Health and a global infectious disease aerobiology expert.

“At this time of year, it seems like everyone is catching the flu virus, and yet our study showed no transmission,” he said in the same press release. “What does this say about how flu spreads and how to stop outbreaks?”

Milton, who was reportedly among the first experts to identify how to stop the spread of COVID-19, noted that findings from these types of trials are essential to updating international infection-control guidelines.

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“Being up close, face-to-face with other people indoors where the air isn’t moving much, seems to be the most risky thing — and it’s something we all tend to do a lot,” he said.

“At this time of year, it seems like everyone is catching the flu virus, and yet our study showed no transmission.”

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“Our results suggest that portable air purifiers that stir up the air, as well as clean it, could be a big help,” Milton suggested. “But if you are really close and someone is coughing, the best way to stay safe is to wear a mask, especially the N95.”

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Approximately 11 million flu illnesses and about 5,000 deaths have occurred so far in the 2025-2026 influenza season, according to CDC data. A large share of the current flu cases are caused by the new influenza A subclade K variant.