Exercise can ease anxiety in patients with chronic illness

Heart disease or chronic illness may leave one anxiety-ridden, but it can adversely affect the overall health of such people as they are less likely to follow prescribed treatments, suggests the analysis.

"Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that physical activities such as walking or weight lifting may turn out to be the best medicine that physicians can prescribe to help their patients feel less anxious," lead researcher Matthew Herring, a doctoral student in the department of kinesiology at the University of Georgia, said.

40 studies reviewed
To come up with this finding, a research team led by Herring analyzed 40 studies on the effects of exercise on patients with chronic illnesses such as heart and circulatory problems, multiple sclerosis, cancer, mental health problems, arthritis, and other pain conditions as well as breathing disorder.

These studies published from 1995 to 2007, involved nearly 3000 people. 59 percent of the participants were women.

Those assigned physical regimen used to work out three times a week for 16 weeks, for an average of 42 minutes per session.

Outcome of the study
Based on the data, the researchers found that people with chronic illnesses who exercised regularly were 20 percent less likely to suffer from the anxiety symptoms compared to others who did not exercise at all.

Those who exercised regularly reported fewer symptoms of anxiety, such as feelings of worry, apprehension, and nervousness than people who did not undergo any physical activity.

It was also found that patients were more likely to benefit from exercise sessions of more than 30 minutes in comparison to shorter sessions of less than 30 minutes.

However, duration of the whole exercise program appeared to have opposite effect.

Exercise programs which lasted 3-12 weeks elicited more anxiety relief compared to exercise programs which lasted longer than 12 weeks.

"Even though the majority of these patient groups did not have extremely elevated anxiety symptom scores at the beginning of exercise training, anxiety symptoms were still reduced," Herring said.

Although anti-anxiety drugs may also help in warding off anxiety symptoms, exercise appears to be a better option, the researchers found.

Herring and colleagues noted that exercise "may be especially useful" for patients with chronic illnesses who prefer non-drug approaches to dealing with anxiety symptoms.

The study has been published in the Feb. 22 issue of the Journal Archives of Internal Medicine.