Exercise as Medicine: PA and Exercise

PA vs. Exercise (Caspersen et al., 1974)

Sleep, work, and leisure.

Intensity

Health Benefits of PA (Pedersen & Saltin, 2015)

Cardiac and respiratory function.

Immune system

Well-being

Muscular strength

Functional ability

Costs of Physical Inactivity (Ding et al., 2016)

Physical inactivity is related to chronic diseases - morbidity and mortality.

Cost to healthcare system.

Loss of productivity - economic cost, particularly in high-income countries.

PA and Chronic Disease (Brawner et al., 2016)

n = 36, 697 non-institutionalised adults in the US.

Self-reported PA

Self-reported chronic disease - e.g., heart diease, asthma and arthritis.

Can exercise be medicine? (Naci & Loannidis, 2011)

YES!

Meta-epidemiological study comparing the effects of exercise with drug treatment.

'Exercise and many drug interventions are often potentially similar in terms of their fatality benefits in secondary prevention.'

Exercise Prescription: Guidelines (Ewing Garber et al., 2011)

Mode

Intensity

Duration

Frequency

Progression of exercise.