Doing 35 minutes of sport a day could reduce the risk of falling into depression, even in genetically more vulnerable people.
Not a week goes by without a new study demonstrating the benefits of physical exercise, whether for physical or mental health. Physical exercise would lead to a longer life, to boost memory, but also to fight against depression. And according to a new study published on November 5 in the journal Depression and Anxiety35 minutes of sport a day could greatly reduce the risks, even in a genetically vulnerable person.
To reach this conclusion, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston (USA) consulted the genomic data and electronic health records of nearly 8,000 people registered with the Partners Biobank. For two years, they looked at the profiles of patients who had been diagnosed with depression and calculated the genetic risk score for each person.
Unsurprisingly, they were able to find that participants with a higher genetic risk of depression were more likely to be diagnosed with depression within two years. In contrast, physically active people were less likely to fall into depression even though they were at genetic risk, the researchers noted.
“Genes are not everything”
“Our results strongly suggest that when it comes to depression, genes are not everything and that physical activity has the potential to neutralize the additional risk of future episodes in genetically vulnerable people,” comments Karmel Choi. , who conducted the study.
In detail, for each additional exercise segment of 4 hours per week, the risk of suffering a new depressive episode decreased by 17% observed the authors of the study. “On average, about 35 additional minutes of physical activity per day can help people lower their risk and protect against future episodes of depression,” Choi continues.
The researchers therefore recommend both high-intensity training sessions, such as aerobic exercises, the use of machines available at the gym or even low-intensity activities such as yoga or stretching.
Focus on physical exercise
“In general, our field has lacked concrete ways to prevent depression and other mental health issues. I believe this research demonstrates the value of healthcare data and real-world genomics in providing answers that can help us reduce the burden of these diseases,” says lead author Dr. Jordan Smoller. ‘study.
Thus, scientists would like doctors to emphasize physical exercise in the treatment of depression. While sport benefits everyone, it seems even more important for genetically vulnerable people.
“We believe there could be many factors (that) could be part of an overall strategy to improve resilience and prevent depression (…) The scale of depression around the world highlights the need for strategies that can impact as many people as possible,” concludes Karmel Choi.
Physical exercise, more effective than antidepressants?
Indeed, more than 300 million people suffer from depression worldwide, an increase of more than 18% from 2005 to 2015. In France, this disease is also progressing. Between 2010 and 2017, it would have increased by two points, particularly affecting women, those under 45 and the most precarious, according to a report published a year ago.
In October 2018, another study, also published in the journal Depression and Anxiety, had already shown the benefits of physical exercise against depression. According to the researchers, physical exercises are generally more effective than conventional antidepressant treatments and psychological therapies.
“Collectively, this study has shown that supervised aerobic exercise can significantly support the treatment of major depression in mental health settings,” said the study’s lead author, after completing 11 trials involving 455 patients aged 18 to 65 with major depression.
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