Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/510259
1. Exercise only 2. Exercise plus antidepressant 3. Antidepressant drug only Aer six weeks, the drug-only group was doing slightly better than the other two groups. However, aer 10 months of follow-up, it was the exercise-only group that had the highest remission and stay-well rate. James Gordon, MD, a world-renowned expert in using mind-body medicine to heal depression, also shared in our 2008 interview: "What we're finding in the research on physical exercise is, the physical exercise is at least as good as antidepressants for helping people who are depressed. And that's even better for older people, very interesting, even more important for older people. And physical exercise changes the level of serotonin in your brain. It changes, increases their levels of "feel good" hormones, the endorphins. And also -- and these are amazing studies -- it can increase the number of cells in your brain, in the region of the brain, called the hippocampus. ese studies have been first done on animals, and it's very important because sometimes in depression, there are fewer of those cells in the hippocampus, but you can actually change your brain with exercise. So it's got to be part of everybody's treatment, everybody's plan." e results really are impressive when you consider that exercise is virtually free and can provide you with numerous other health benefits too. For instance, one study found that 30-minute aerobic workouts done three to five times a week cut depressive symptoms by 50 percent in young adults. In another study, which involved 80 adults aged 20 to 45 years who were diagnosed with mild to moderate depression, researchers looked at exercise alone to treat the condition and found: • Those who exercised with low-intensity for three and five days a week showed a 30 percent reduction in symptoms • Participants who did stretching flexibility exercises 15 to 20 minutes three days a week averaged a 29 percent decline e results of this study are similar to that of other studies, which involved patients with mild or moderate depression being treated with antidepressants or cognitive therapy -- proving patients need not rely on drugs to treat depression. A Prescription for Exercise … I've long said that you can use exercise like a drug to help heal numerous ailments, and now in some countries like the UK, antidepressants are no longer recommended as the first line of therapy for mild to moderate depression. Instead, doctors there write out a prescription to see an exercise counselor instead. As medical journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee Robert Whitaker shared: "With that prescription… you now get either a reduced rate or a free rate at a gym for six months. Part of the Abby's Magazine - May/June 2015 | Page 27