The Healing Power of Exercise

Diane L. Elliot, Linn Goldberg

Description

LEARN HOW EXERCISE CAN . . .
* Increase bone health
* Offer relief for arthritis and back pain
* Lower your risk of developing certain cancers
* Lower high cholesterol and improve triglyceride levels
* Treat heart disease
* Slow (and even reverse) aging
* Burn fat and build muscle
* Reduce your risk of developing glaucoma
* Elevate your mood and fight depression
* Boost your energy level


Do you have the time to exercise 90 to 120 minutes a week (that's just 30 to 40 minutes three times a week)? If you do, medical studies indicate that you can accomplish a death-defying act. You will feel better, roll back your physiological clock, and gain more benefits than from any potion or pill ever invented. In The Healing Power of Exercise, Drs. Linn Goldberg and Diane Elliot--two of the top medical experts in the field of exercise therapy--share with everyone their vast knowledge about the medical benefits of physical exercise. This book is based on the authors' groundbreaking medical textbook, Exercise for Prevention and Treatment of Illness, which opened eyes in the medical industry to the benefits of exercise. Packed with fascinating true-life stories and engaging writing, The Healing Power of Exercise explains exactly why "exercise is the best medicine." The authors cover more than ten common illnesses, discussing how exercise can help prevent or treat them. They clearly show you which exercises (and how much) are right for what ails you. With fascinating and informative medical sidebars, step-by-step photos, and detailed advice, Drs. Goldberg and Elliot help you tailor your own personal exercise program and get you motivated to start on it--and stay on it. For life.
Exercise: The Best Medicine.

Finding Your Way to Regular Exercise.

Exercise for Bone Health.

Exercise for Arthritis and Back Pain Relief.

Exercise to Prevent and Treat Diabetes.

Exercise to Treat Abnormal Cholesterol Levels.

Exercise to Lose Weight.

Exercise to Lower Blood Pressure.

Exercise to Prevent and Treat Heart Disease.

Exercise to Slow (and Reverse) Aging.

Exercise to Elevate Mood and Treat Anxiety and Depression.

Your Personal Exercise Prescription.

Afterword: Preventing and Treating Common Exercise Problems.

Appendices.

References.

Index.

Sujets

• Exercise
• Prevention
• Health
• Fitness

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 21 avril 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470307182
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Healing Power of Exercise
The Healing Power of Exercise
Your Guide to Preventing and Treating Diabetes, Depression, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Arthritis, and More
Linn Goldberg, M.D.
Diane L. Elliot, M.D.

John Wiley Sons, Inc.
New York Chichester Weinheim Brisbane Singapore Toronto
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 2000 by Linn Goldberg and Diane L. Elliot. All rights reserved
Text illustrations 2000 by Don Hamilton/OHSU
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc.
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, [phone], fax [phone], E-Mail: [e-mail].
The information contained in this book is not intended to serve as a replacement for professional medical advice. Any use of the information in this book is at the reader s discretion. The author and the publisher specifically disclaim any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the use or application of any information contained in this book. A health care professional should be consulted regarding your specific situation.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Goldberg, Linn.
The healing power of exercise: your guide to preventing and treating diabetes, depression, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, and more / Linn Goldberg, Diane L. Elliot.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-471-34800-7 (paper)
1. Exercise therapy. I. Elliot, Diane L. II. Title.
RM725.G655 2000 615.8 2-dc21
99-050237
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Introduction
1 Exercise: The Best Medicine
2 Finding Your Way to Regular Exercise
3 Exercise for Bone Health
4 Exercise for Arthritis and Back Pain Relief
5 Exercise to Prevent and Treat Diabetes
6 Exercise to Treat Abnormal Cholesterol Levels
7 Exercise to Lose Weight
8 Exercise to Lower Blood Pressure
9 Exercise to Prevent and Treat Heart Disease
10 Exercise to Slow (and Reverse) Aging
11 Exercise to Elevate Mood and Treat Anxiety and Depression
12 Your Personal Exercise Prescription
Afterword: Preventing and Treating Common Exercise Problems
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
References
Index
Introduction
The Healing Power of Exercise has been 18 years in the making. It began in 1982, when we were new Assistant Professors of Medicine trying to answer the question, Does exercise prevent and treat illness or wear you out prematurely? At that time, a debate raged about the effects of exercise. On one side, some believed regular physical activity hastened our demise. They believed that our hearts only have a certain number of beats. Use up those beats by racing your heart with exercise, and you shorten your life span. An opposing theory was that running prevented you from dying of cardiovascular disease. Who was right? The live longer theory lost ground with the sudden death of some prominent exercise proponents.
We too were skeptics. Both of us attended excellent medical schools and, after graduation, trained as internal medicine specialists. Destined to meet in our home state of Oregon, we were recruited as faculty members by the Oregon Health Sciences University. Despite all of our training, we were never taught about exercise. We learned that medications and surgery helped people by treating infections, controlling metabolic problems, poisoning cancers, removing diseased body parts, and replacing severely narrowed blood vessels. Yet, the major textbooks said nothing about the effects of physical activity, and quite the opposite, for most diseases, the recommendation was to get more rest.
As medical school faculty, our jobs involve caring for patients, teaching students, interns, and residents, and performing medical research. We were interested in the answer to the exercise question, in part, because we ourselves exercised. Was it all in our heads, or was there a relationship between exercise and health?
At that time, few medical researchers were interested in the medical effects of physical activity, and most exercise scientists studied elite athletes or young healthy adults. Working on several projects, we found that cholesterol and blood pressure were lowered with regular exercise. The research led to our own exercise facility, the Human Performance Laboratory, which helped further our research and translate the results into clinical practice. Patients with various medical problems including diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol levels began exercising. We found that many could literally toss their prescriptions away. Others could reduce the medications they were taking, saving them unwanted side effects and financial expense.
Our work with other medical specialties led us to observe additional benefits that could be applied to patients. These studies are ongoing and have involved exercise and kidney disease, heart problems, obesity, muscle and neurologic disorders, and arthritis. Many other studies by exercise scientists bolstered our conclusions. In the last decade, it has become clear that exercise not only makes you feel better, but it treats and prevents disease. However, despite its benefits, most U.S. adults do not exercise regularly.
During these years, we continued caring for patients and extolling the benefits of regular physical activity. In 1994, we published the medical textbook Exercise for Prevention and Treatment of Illness. In its chapters, research about exercise and many different illnesses was reviewed, and we provided information about how physicians and other health care providers can use exercise to prevent and combat illness. Now, with publication of The Healing Power of Exercise, this advice is provided to you.
We have designed the book to be easy to read and easy to use. Certain chapters focus on information that applies to all exercising individuals-general advice and motivation to begin and maintain a healthy exercise program and the types of physical activity and their benefits. Other chapters deal directly with medical problems. In these chapters, we review the evidence that exercise prevents and treats the problem and outline specific advice about activities that are particularly applicable to each medical disorder. Throughout the book, we share the stories of people who have used exercise to combat their problems. Names have been changed to protect the innocent . . . and the guilty. We hope their experiences will help illustrate the information and inspire you to exercise.
Today, there is a wealth of scientific data showing the preventive and healing power of physical activity, but the theory is not new by any means. Early physicians and philosophers, armed only with keen observational skills, predicted the health benefits of exercise hundreds of years ago. For example, the Roman statesman Cicero (106-43 B.C .) wrote that exercise . . . can preserve something of our early strength, even in old age, while the physician Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) appears to be the first to describe the emotional benefits of exercise when he wrote, The most beneficial of all types of exercise is physical gymnastics to the point that the soul becomes influenced and rejoices.
Over the years, we have seen many amazing advances in the drug therapy of medical disorders. Yet, we continue to believe that if exercise could be bottled, it would be the most widely prescribed medication in the world. We sincerely hope you learn from, enjoy, and share this book with your family and friends.
Chapter 1
Exercise: The Best Medicine
If you were told you could have more energy, be healthier, and live longer by doing something that takes a little more than one minute out of every two hours, would you do it?


Do you have the time to exercise 90 to 120 minutes a week? Well, if you do, medical research indicates that you can accomplish a death-defying act. You will feel better, roll back your physiological clock, and gain more benefits than you would from any potion or medication ever invented. Participating in a program of regular physical exercise can accomplish the following:
Fewer than 20 percent of adults in the United States get enough exercise. Increase your life span Reduce your chance of developing heart disease Reduce your risk of stroke Lower your risk of developing certain cancers Prevent and treat high blood pressure Prevent and treat diabetes Burn fat and build muscle Strengthen your bones Improve cholesterol and triglyceride levels Prevent and treat lower back problems Reduce stress, anxiety, and symptoms of depression Reduce your risk of developing glaucoma Boost your energy level
Exercise: The Early Years
Our bodies are not much different today than they were 2 million years ago, when Homo erectus first walked on the planet. That is about the time when we began using stone tools, and the screwdriver and ginsu knives were just dreams. Homo sapiens appeared almost 500,000 years ago. These ancestors had a larger brain, began cooking their food, and over time developed jaws with smaller teeth. Today, our organs, basic physiology, and biological systems are identical to those of our ancestors who lived 40,000 years ago.
After years of research, the United States Public Health Service declared physical fitness and exercise to be one of the . . . priority areas in whi