Just One Hour of Exercise a Week May Help Prevent Depression

Regular exercise may prevent many cases of future depression, according to a new Australian study, and researchers say that as little as one hour a week can make a real difference. The paper, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, followed more than 22,000 healthy Norwegian adults without symptoms of anxiety or depression for an average of 11 years, asking them about their exercise habits and symptoms of depression and anxiety at the beginning and end of the study. At the start, about 12% said they didn’t exercise, and the rest said they exercised anywhere from “up to 30 minutes” to “more than 4 hours” a week. Over the next decade, about 7% of people in the study developed depression, and about 9% developed anxiety. No relationship was observed between exercise and later anxiety, but the researchers did find a link between exercise and later depression. People who said they didn’t exercise at the study’s start were 44% more likely to become depressed, compared to those who exercised at least 1 to 2 hours a week. For people who worked out more, no additional benefits were observed. The study could not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between exercise and the risk of depression, but the authors say it strongly suggests one—especially because they controlled for other potential factors, including age, gender, social support, smoking, drinking and body mass index. If their hypothesis is right, they say, 12% of depre...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Anxiety brain health Depression does exercise help anxiety does exercise help depression endorphins Exercise/Fitness healthytime mental health mood physical activity Source Type: news