Running for Your Life

I lace up my concrete running shoes and go out for my ten-minute jog that is uphill and against the wind both ways. If I ran any slower I'd be running backwards. I once broke 4:50 in the mile as a senior in high school, but my flashbacks are to my freshman year before I hit my growth spurt when I had to struggle in a world designed for the bigger, the faster, and the stronger.

Why bother? I am literally running for my life, that's why. I nearly did not emerge from my last major depression, and the prospect of another is simply too horrible to contemplate. Make no mistake, exercise may be as effective as any antidepressant, plus you don't gain weight. The only catch is you have to go out and do it.

A recent Duke University study divided 150 participants with depression age 50 or more into three groups. One was put on an exercise regimen, another administered Zoloft, and a third given a combination of the two. Those in the exercise group worked out on a treadmill or stationary bicycle at 70 to 85 percent of their maximum heart rate for 30 minutes, three times a week.

At the end of four months, all three groups showed significantly lower rates of depression.

The big surprise came from a follow-up conducted six months later when it was discovered that those in the exercise group experienced significantly less relapse than those in the Zoloft or combination groups. Only eight percent of the exercise group had their depression return compared to 38 percent of the Zoloft group and 31 percent of the combination group.

As to why the combination group should fare worse than the exercise alone group, lead researcher James Blumenthal PhD speculated that: "The concurrent use of medication may undermine the psychological benefits of exercise ..."

He goes on to say: "The important conclusion is that the effectiveness of exercise seems to persist over time, and that patients who respond well to exercise and maintain their exercise have a much smaller risk of relapsing."

Moreover: "For each 50-minute increment of exercise, there was an accompanying 50 percent reduction in relapse risk."

At best, the study can claim that exercise is superior to a single random antidepressant. In the real world, patients get a second and third try at different antidepressants, so we cannot say that exercise tops antidepressant treatment. Nevertheless, it is clear that working out should be regarded as a major part of one's treatment regime, along with medications, diet, sleep, and other lifestyle choices.

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