Regular exercise can alleviate the anxiety associated with chronic disease, according to a recent analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Anxiety, which often accompanies chronic diseases, can significantly reduce the quality of life of patients and contribute to non-compliance with medical recommendations, which in turn negatively affects the results of therapy.
It turns out, however, that regular exercise can be a simple way to relieve anxiety in sick people.
Researchers from Georgia State University came to this conclusion after analyzing the results of 40 clinical trials, which included a total of about 3000 people suffering from various diseases, such as heart disease, multiple sclerosis, cancer and chronic pain associated with arthritis.
It turned out that 90 percent. In the study, patients assigned to the group of regularly exercising felt less anxiety and anxiety, worried less and were less nervous than patients who did not exercise.
According to the researchers, regular physical activity by 20 percent. It relieved anxiety related to the disease, and exercise sessions lasting longer than 30 minutes were more effective in this respect than shorter sessions.
What was most surprising, however, was that exercise programs lasting 3 to 12 weeks were more effective in relieving anxiety than longer programs. According to the authors of the study, this may be due to the fact that patients have more difficulties with regular participation in longer physical activities.
Our results provide further evidence that physical activity such as walking or lifting weights may be the best medicine doctors recommend for patients to relieve anxiety, comments study author Matthew Herling. In his opinion, this discovery is important because the number of people with chronic diseases will continue to grow in connection with the aging of societies. Exercise, on the other hand, is not only effective, but also cheap, and has fewer side effects than pharmacotherapy. (PAP)