You’ve Got To Move It: New Study Supports The Role Of Exercise As Medicine

There’s no doubt at this point that your lifestyle has a direct impact on how well you feel, move, and think as you get older. And physical movement has, time and again, proven to be an essential aspect of a healthy aging lifestyle, along with proper diet, sleep, and social engagement. We’ve regularly highlighted research studies that connect physical movement and exercise with better health outcomes. A research study from earlier this year, published in JAMA, reported that exercise and diet, perhaps even more than medications, were successful in preventing many chronic diseases. According to this study, tracking over 1000 patients for 2 decades in a diabetes prevention program, those patients randomly assigned to a moderate-intensity exercise and nutrition group, as compared to a group receiving metformin or a placebo group, were 20% less likely to develop multiple different chronic diseases, beyond just diabetes prevention. The diseases tracked included cancer, dementia, kidney disease, heart disease, and arthritis.

A brand new study, just published in Cell Metabolism, really has the Exercise Is Medicine community excited, as it adds important data bout the value of exercise and physical activity as critical tools for preventing a broad range of chronic illnesses. According to this new research, there is strong evidence that physical activity and exercise can function as primary prevention tools against as many as 35 chronic illnesses or conditions, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cognitive diseases, and certain cancers. And not only does exercise work to prevent such conditions, but lack of exercise can even amplify and exacerbate other risk factors, such as high blood pressure or obesity. In essence, not only can exercise work preventively, but it is also an important factor in the management of chronic illnesses.

To further amplify this point, new studies and commentaries have examined the role of exercise in the management of Parkinson’s disease and the outlook of cancer survivors. Regarding Parkinson’s, a new study published in the journal Neurology reports that exercise appears to slow down the physical and mental problems associated with Parkinson’s. Parkinson’s, a progressive disease that affects the nervous system, impairs physical movement and eventually can lead to cognitive problems. This study found that people who Parkinson’s who exercise more than 8 hours per week were able to not only slow their physical decline but also experienced a slower cognitive decline. Tracking nearly 300 patients over 7 years, the researchers noted that those Parkinson’s patients who engaged in more exercise and more vigorous physical movement had the best outcomes. While more research is needed, this study appears to support the increasing focus on exercise as an important source of medical benefit and disease management for people with Parkinson’s. For more on this study, click here.

Finally, concerning the relationship between cancer survivorship and exercise, The New York Times recently ran an in-depth examination of the growing body of evidence demonstrating that cancer patients who exercise have better survivorship outcomes. While insurance companies have yet to financially support exercise regimens as part of a therapeutic strategy for dealing with cancer, cancer treatment programs are beginning to incorporate exercise prescriptions as essential tools for helping their patients live longer and better. As one strong physician proponent stated, “If we had a drug with this magnitude of benefit, it would immediately become the standard of care and be funded by insurance companies.” For more on this growing evidence that exercise is an essential component of good cancer care, read here.