Chronic Diseases
A chronic disease is an illness that persists over time and is usually caused by a combination of genetics, environmental stressors, and poor lifestyle. Most alarming is the fact that chronic diseases and the deaths it causes have been growing around the world:
1990: 28 million or 57 percent of all deaths globally
2008: 36 million or 63 percent of all deaths globally
2016: 39 million or 72 percent of all deaths globally
These numbers may, in part, reflect increasing population levels, but regardless, current projections point to a potential decline in life expectancy for future generations from chronic diseases such as respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, obesity, cancer, diabetes, and stroke. Overall, there is ample evidence that engaging in exercise and just plain daily physical activity mitigates the chances for chronic disease along with using it to enhance conventional treatment regimens. And regular exercise provides a higher quality of life while supporting increased longevity (Anderson & Durstine, 2019). Health improvements seen with exercise and daily physical activity affect of variety of organ systems including cardiovascular, skeletal, insulin balance, cancer mortality rates, immune response, and metabolic regulation (Anderson & Durstine, 2019).
Psychological Dis-Ease
Exercise has been shown to help with mental and emotional disturbances. The underlying neurophysiological mechanism is the increased synthesis and release of neurotransmitters and neurotrophins which contribute to neurogenesis, angiogenesis and neuroplasticity (Portugal et al., 2013).
Anxiety Disorders
Moderate to intense exercise improves behavior, thinking, and mood. It must be pointed out that the research results regarding the effects of strength training on mood have been contradictory while studies of low- and high-intensity strength training have had divergent results (Portugal et al., 2013). Overall, however, the results are promising and more research will be forthcoming.
Body Image
The experience of embodiment may be described in the body schema/image model. These are flip sides of the same coin. The body schema is the experience of the physical body while the body image is the cognitive and emotional evaluations and responses we have to that experience. It is a multidimensional construct that reflects one’s thoughts, feelings, evaluations and perceptions of one’s own body.
Exercise has received attention as a viable option for improving women’s body image dissatisfaction. A meta-analysis of exercise studies measuring effects on body image found that exercisers have a more positive body image than non-exercisers (Hausenblas & Fallon, 2006). Another set of three meta-analyses reported the same overall finding (Campbell & Hausenblas, 2009; Reel et al., 2007). With regard to state body image, for women who exercise regularly–a single bout of exercise for as little as 30 minutes–can improve body image (see Martin Ginis & Bassett, 2012 for a review). This finding was reproduced by Salci & Martin Ginis (2017).
Cognitive Functioning
Initial research findings show that exercise improves cognitive ability and daily life functioning. Daily walks with patients with dementia have proven helpful in their mental abilities. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most virulent form of dementia and is related to the growth of β-amyloid neural plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that shrink the hippocampus. β-Amyloid is a principal component of the plaque in the brains of AD patients. Animal studies reveal that physical exercise reduces the β-amyloid deposits. Exercise helps reduce the accumulation of the protein which that forms the neurofibrillary tangles. Physical activity also seems to support neuronal resilience against inflammation of the brain and spinal cord (Portugal et al., 2013). These finding have been confirmed by Frith & Loprinzi (2018) who found that after examining a national sample of U.S. adults with family members who had Alzheimer’s that the AD persons had greater cognitive functioning if they exercised. Strength training and frequency of exercise appear to be important factors.
Depression
Clinical tests and randomized control group studies have found evidence linking exercise with improvement of mood. Strength training and aerobic exercise positively affect depression. The power in exercise to control depression seems to depend on the consistent practice of an optimal exercise program. The optimal form may be a combination of strength training and aerobics (Portugal et al., 2013).
Please note that a word of tempered caution is in order. One meta-analytic study of random control group studies of exercise and depression found that that general exercise is beneficial for people with depression although many of the studies examined appear to be flawed consequently more studies are needed (Ranjbar et al., 2015). Again, all indicators are pointing in a positive direction, but further confirmation is needed.
Quality of Life (QoL)
From Gill et al. 2013.
Quality of Life (QoL) is a complex somatopsychic experience. Past research indicates that exercise (and general physical activity) touches various areas of QoL which then motivate a person for more exercise and activity. In general, the QoL experience is very subjective and highly contextualized. And, also in general, good health is fundamental to quality of life and exercise enhances all of the above areas (Gill et al., 2013).
Closing Thoughts
The conclusions here are pretty obvious. Physical activity and exercise provide a non-invasive means for added chronic disease prevention and treatment. Despite Ranjbar et al.’s cautious conclusion it can be said with confidence that exercise helps in mood regulation. I think the growing research on exercise is painting a picture of how it contributes to holistic well-being on a variety of levels. And, again, more detail in the overall picture is needed to speak with absolute absurdity. In the meantime, I’m more than happy with guarded confidence in all of the findings discussed.
Paul Shane, Ph.D., LMT
Director, Academic Content
References
Anderson, E. & Durstine, J. (2019). Physical activity, exercise, and chronic diseases: A brief review. Sports Medicine and Health Science 1, p. 3-10.
Campbell, A., & Hausenblas, H. A. (2009). Effects of exercise interventions on body image: A meta-analysis. Journal of Health Psychology 14, p. 1-14.
Frith, E. & Loprinzi, P. (2018). Physical activity is associated with higher cognitive function among adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 36, p. 46-49.
Gill, D., Hammond, C., Reifsteck, E., Jehu, C., Williams, R., Adams, M., Lange, E., Becofsky, K., Rodriguez, E., & Shane, Y. (2013). Physical activity and quality of life. Journal of Preventive Medicine & Public Health 46(1), p. 28-34.
Hausenblas, H. & Fallon, E. (2006). Exercise and body image: A meta-analysis. Psychology and Health 21, p. 33-47.
Martin Gins, K. & Bassett, R. (2012). Exercise: Effects on body image. In T. Cash (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Body Image and Human Appearance, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp 412-417.
Portugal, E., Cevada, T., Monteiro-Junior, R., Guimarães, T., Rubini, E., Lattari, E., Blois, C., & Deslandes, A. (2013). Neuroscience of exercise: From neurobiology mechanisms to mental health. Neuropsychobiology 68, p. 1-14.
Ranjbar, E. Memari, A., Hafizi, S., Shayestehfar, M., Sadat Mirfazeli, F., & Eshghi, M. (2015). Depression and exercise: A clinical review and management guideline. Asian Journal of Sports Medicine 6(2), e24055. DOI: 10.5812/asjsm.6(2)2015.24055
Reel, J., Greenleaf, C., Baker, W., Aragon, S., Bishop, D., Cachaper, C., & Hattie, J. (2007). Relations of body concerns and exercise behaviour: A meta-analysis. Psychological Reports 101, p. 927-942.
Salci, L. & Martin Ginis, K. (2017), Acute effects of exercise on women with pre-existing body image concerns: A test of potential mediators. Psychology of Sport and Exercise 31, p. 113-122.
Revised 05-06-24.