eMedicineLive

In more than half of the patients suffering from depression who require more than one medicine to treat their symptoms, exercise can be used as an adjuvant therapy. This was the finding of a recent study published in the “Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.” Researchers working on the study have found that moderate to intense exercise works as good as secondary medication to treat the symptoms of depression. It can be used as an adjuvant when the primary anti-depressant medicine fails to move the patient into remission.

 

The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, was conducted by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists along with scientists from the Cooper Institute in Dallas.  According to Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, professor of psychiatry and the study's lead author, many patients on anti depressant medicines are relieved of their symptoms after starting medicine. But they do not feel as good as before. It is in this scenario that adding exercise to the daily regime of the patient can be as beneficial as adding a secondary medicine. Exercise helps the patient to feel better and is good for his overall health and well being.

 

The researchers selected a group of patients suffering from depression for about 7 years who had not achieved remission on taking using a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant medication. The participants were divided into two groups- one received moderate exercise while the other was put on an intense exercise regimen for 12 weeks. They exercised on treadmills, cycle ergometers or both, kept an online diary of frequency and length of sessions, and wore a heart-rate monitor while exercising at home. Almost 30% of the patients achieved remission while another 20% showed considerable improvement in their symptoms by the end of 12 weeks. Women with a positive family history benefitted form moderate exercise while women who did not have a family history of depression benefitted from intense exercise. Men reported an improvement in their symptoms after undergoing intense exercise, regardless of their family history. Thus, the researchers derived the conclusion that exercise can be effective as effective as secondary medicine to relieve the symptoms of depression. However, the amount of exercise to be undertaken depends upon the characteristics of the patient, including their gender.

 

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