October 16, 2000 – Two successive research studies from a team at Duke University Medical Center have shown that doing 30 minutes of vigorous exercise three times a week is as effective as a drug for short-term treatment of major depression and much more effective in preventing relapses.
Last year, the team led by psychologist James Blumenthal studied the effect of a period of exercise on 156 older people with major depression. Research had shown that after 16 weeks of treatment the exercise group had comparable results to the group taking sertraline (Zoloft®), an antidepressant from the family of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (such as Prozac), and that combining exercise and medication.
The new study, performed on the same group for an additional six months, showed that only 8% of patients who continued exercising relapsed compared to 38% of those who took the drug and 31% for the group who continued to exercise. combined the two treatments.
The results of the study do not stop at these statistics because we discovered a “dose effect” with the exercise: each weekly increase of 50 minutes of exercise reduced by 50% the risk of relapse.
The researchers were surprised, however, that the group combining exercise and medication did not get better results. According to them, the fact that some patients were disappointed to have been placed in the “exercise + medication” group possibly made them less enthusiastic about the treatment.
Dr Blumenthal believes that exercise allows patients to take an active role in improving their condition, compared to the very passive act of taking a pill, and helps them feel like they are taking back control of their lives. He adds that even though the study was done on middle-aged or older patients, it makes sense to think the results would be the same for younger people. However, no psychotic or clearly suicidal patient was included in the research.
HealthPassport.net
From Doctor’s Guide to the Internet, September 22, 2000
Babyak M, Blumenthal JA, Herman S, Khatri P, Doraiswamy M, Moore K, Craighead WE, Baldewicz TT, Krishnan KR. Exercise treatment for major depression: maintenance of therapeutic benefit at 10 months. Psychosom Med. 2000 Sep-Oct; 62 (5): 633-8.
Blumenthal JA, Babyak MA, Moore KA, Craighead WE, Herman S, Khatri P, Waugh R, Napolitano MA, Forman LM, Appelbaum M, Doraiswamy PM, Krishnan KR. Effects of exercise training on older patients with major depression. Arch Intern Med. 1999 Oct 25; 159 (19): 2349-56.
View research on MEDLINE
