The study appears in the current issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Exercise has often been described as a valuable mood enhancer.
"People say that all time that 'If I could exercise, I would feel better,' " said a co-author of the study, Dr. Madhukar H. Trivedi of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
But the goal of this study, the researchers said, was to try to establish scientifically if exercise really helped with depression and, if so, how much was needed. The researchers took 20 adults ages 20 to 45 with diagnoses of depression and separated them into groups.
Some did differing amounts of aerobic activity, working on a treadmill or exercise bike. One did flexibility exercises. None were taking medication for depression. After 12 weeks, the researchers found that patients who worked out for half an hour three to five times a week reported half the symptoms of depression that they had before the program began.
The more they worked out, the less depressed they reported feeling. Too little aerobic activity produced the same results as the stretching group.
The study noted that the exercise was done in groups, so the social support may also have played a role in the improvement. But whatever the explanation, the benefits were comparable to those achieved with medication or therapy, the study said.
Courtesy of the New York Times 2/1/2005
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