Working out is good medicine

[Guest guest]

This article is awesome and points out several cases of chronically

ill people and how exercise has helped them get well. I really feel

my story should be here as well. I knew I was not alone. It seems to

me the benefits are so obvious I cannot believe more people are not

trying it. Especially when most of it is free, like walking!

Working out is good medicine

Diseases and their effects may subside with frequent exercise,

experts say

By Alison Schwartz / Special to The Detroit News

Donna Terek / The Detroit News

Carol Woodbridge, who gets a lick from Nakota Sioux, says her cycling

helps keep her diabetes under control.

Where to go for help

To learn more about the healing benefits of exercise, check these

sources:

* " The Healing Power of Exercise: Your Guide to Preventing and

Treating Diabetes, Depression, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure,

Arthritis and More " by Linn Goldberg and Diane L. Elliot ( Wiley

& Sons; $20).

* " Reversing Diabetes: Reduce or Even Eliminate Your Dependence on

Insulin or Oral Drugs " by n M. Whitaker (Warner Books; $14.95).

* " Cancer Battle Plan: Six Strategies for Beating Cancer, from a

Recovered 'Hopeless Case' " by Anne E Frahm,

J. Frahm ( P. Tarcher/Putnam; $12.95).

* American Cancer Society, (800) ACS-2345.

* American Diabetes Association, (248) 433-3830.

* Southeastern Michigan Diabetes Outreach Network, (313) 965-2351.

* Henry Ford Health System's AIM HI, (313) 921-8208 or (313) 592-

4845.

* National Kidney Foundation, (800) 482-1455.

* Easter Seals, (248) 386-9600 or (586) 978-2476.

Most of us are well aware exercise is a modern day panacea for

feeling good and looking younger as those pounds slip away. By all

accounts, it will probably improve your health and let you live

longer too. What you may not be aware of, however, is the dramatic

improvements possible if you are already battling a medical

condition.

Every month, new research projects are published showing impressive

benefits of regular exercise on physical and mental well-being in

people with a range of illness. In some cases, patients are able to

throw out their medicines as they return to normal health.

The New England Journal of Medicine carried a persuasive study last

spring showing how well men did on an exercise treadmill test was a

better predictor of how long they would live than other heart risk

factors -- even among men with heart disease. So, even if you've got

heart disease, if you're doing aerobic exercise regularly, the

chances are that you could well outlive your neighbor slumped in

front of the TV.

Arthritis patients can greatly benefit too from the right kind of

regime. In October, the British Medical Journal reported the results

of using a simple, home-based exercise program in patients with

arthritic knees. Using graded elastic bands for just 30 minutes a day

to build up muscle strength significantly reduced patients' pain.

Exercise is even a " must have " treatment for depression, says Dr

Surjeet Bagga, the medical director for Easter Seals, a national

nonprofit organization.

" When you're depressed, you feel sad, have lower energy levels and

motivation, have difficulty sleeping through the night and appetite

problems, " explains Bagga, a psychiatrist. If you sleep or lay around

it's a vicious cycle -- you just get worse. When patients exercise,

they have to make time for themselves, which makes them more hopeful

and less helpless. They have more control over their illness. "

Aerobic exercise helps by stimulating the release of endorphins, a

type of anti-depressant made in the brain. Other benefits include

weight loss (depressed patients may overeat), more social interaction

and a greater sense of accomplishment. Being physically tired also

helps with sleeping at night.

The evidence is persuasive. Doctors at Duke University in Durham,

N.C., assigned 156 depressed patients to either a three-times-a-week

group exercise regime lasting 45 minutes, exercise with an anti-

depressant or an anti-depressant alone. After four months the

patients who had been treated with only exercise were doing as well,

if not better, than the patients who had been medicated. Six months

later, patients still exercising were less likely to be depressed

again.

Cancer is another disease that may be helped by an exercise routine --

and perhaps even prevented.

A study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association

in 2001 showed that people who were overweight were more at risk of

cancer of the pancreas. However, if people were doing regular

exercise, their risk was reduced -- even if they were overweight.

Results from the Nurses' Health Study from doctors in Boston, showed

women who were more physically active had a lower risk of breast

cancer.

In the light of this type of research, the American Cancer Society

actively promotes exercise to patients and the general public. The

society suggests being at least moderately active for 30 minutes or

more five days a week. Even better, would be 45 minutes or more of

moderate or vigorous activity five or more days a week.

A study by doctors in Norway looked at physical activity and blood

markers. Perhaps not surprisingly, people doing high levels of

exercise or those who changed from being sedentary to exercisers had

much better metabolic profiles -- lower total cholesterol levels,

lower triglyceride levels and higher HDL (good cholesterol) levels.

The doctors felt these differences were large enough to have a

beneficial effect in preventing chronic diseases, such as heart

disease.

Dr. Amy Indenbaum-Green, a rehabilitation specialist with Providence

Hospital in Southfield, has witnessed the value of exercise.

" Almost 90 percent of the population will suffer from back pain at

some time during their life, " she says. " Exercise is hugely

beneficial in helping such conditions as herniated discs and neck

pain -- we have great success. "

Marilyn , 41, a dietitian and diabetes educator with

Southeast Michigan Diabetes Outreach Network, is amazed by the power

of exercise. Based in Detroit, also helps to run AIM HI, a

community male health program aimed at African Americans, which

offers diabetic patients 21 hours of instruction over seven weeks.

" We teach patients about medication, nutrition and exercise and spend

20 to 25 minutes exercising in each class, " she says. " Before

exercising, we check their blood sugar, and it can drop 50 points,

even 100 points, by the end of exercising. Patients who exercise

regularly also see weight loss, which can also have a dramatic effect

on their diabetes control. "

Cycling helps woman deal with transplant, diabetes

Carol Woodbridge, 43, thinks nothing of riding her bike a cool 15

miles, teaching a Pilates or Fitball class or running several miles

on her treadmill. Her fitness level would impress almost anyone --

especially when you learn she has had diabetes since her teens and

needed a kidney transplant in 1996.

Woodbridge of Ortonville says, " You just have to deal with the hand

you are dealt and do the best you can do. "

Her best way was to get as fit as possible after her surgery. " At

first, I started walking, then I got a treadmill and the next step

was riding a bike and waterskiing. "

Now, Woodbridge's cycling speed record is so impressive that she

represented the state of Michigan at the World Transplant Games in

France last year, getting gold medals for the 1K sprint cycling race

and the 24K endurance race.

Woodbridge has to take special care during exercise not to get

dehydrated because of her new kidney and diabetes. But she's

convinced her cycling keeps her diabetes in great control.

Before her transplant, Woodbridge spent four long years doing a

special type of dialysis known as CAPD, when she often felt sick.

Now, with her new kidney and her ultra-fit body, she can't believe

how well she feels. " I can't begin to thank the donor's family

enough -- I thank God for them every day, " she says.

Daily walking strengthens woman suffering from lupus

When Yaker, 39, started getting inexplicable bruises on her

body, she just attributed it to running after her three small boys

and even blamed the mattress on her bed. But then, her skin started

itching, she developed painful hips, and her ankles started swelling.

" I was also exhausted all the time -- almost falling asleep at

stoplights and even unable to push the grocery cart, " she says.

Doctors gave her the startling diagnosis that she had lupus, an auto-

immune condition that affects joints, muscles, skin and, in severe

cases, internal organs.

I knew something was wrong, but I didn't expect it to be something

that I'd have for the rest of my life, " Yaker says.

Now, three years after her diagnosis, can be seen almost

every morning walking briskly around her West Bloomfield Township

neighborhood.

" I knew I needed to exercise, and I wanted to do something that

wouldn't be too stressful on my joints but would keep me mobile, " she

says.

Over the last few years, she has expanded her routine to an

impressive five miles every weekday and looks the picture of health,

although she still has to take anti-inflammatory medications.

" I think walking has made a big difference to my health. It really

helps me cope with lupus, " Yaker says, " and the only cost involved is

a good pair of shoes. "

Basketball gets Detroiter through bout with cancer

A routine physical exam undoubtedly helped save Cal Dilworth's life

when doctors discovered he had cancer of the colon. But he's also

convinced that sports played a huge part in getting him well again.

Dilworth, who has been an athlete all his life, was in great physical

shape when his cancer was detected. Now, at age 71, he remains more

fit than most men half his age, playing basketball four or five times

a week and taking part in seniors games all over the world. At the

end of January, Dilworth, who is the director of the Masters Sports

Program, an athletic program for people older than 50 at Tindal

Recreation Center in Detroit, flew to Brazil to play in a tournament.

" I was actually fortunate because the cancer was detected so early. I

had surgery in May 1993 and by August I was playing in a basketball

tournament. Doctors said it was one of the quickest recoveries they'd

ever seen, " says Dilworth, who lives on the northwest side of

Detroit. " I do try to eat healthy -- like fruit and vegetables and

meat -- but I'm also sure that exercise has been a big part in

keeping me well. "

Alison Schwartz is a Metro Detroit free-lance writer.