Wednesday, November 16, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Fit For
Sisters
Andrew Luscutoff
Columnist
This is your brain
on exercise
Everyone knows exercise
offers physical benefits. It
is undisputed that exercise
improves the heart, lungs,
and muscles. Exercise also
can effectively enhance body
composition by burning extra
calories, and makes changes
to become more resilient to
metabolic disorders.
However, exercise isn’t
only working on these sys-
tems, and it may have more
profound effects on other
areas as well.
As one exercises, heart
rate, breath rate, and body
chemistry adjust. Increased
blood flow, release of chem-
icals, and mobilization of
stored energy all have their
hand in nearly every sys-
tem in the body. Digestion
is slowed, blood flow is
directed toward our working
muscles, and systems switch
to support the demands.
Now exercise is being
touted as a way to enhance
mental health, perhaps
allowing someone to think
more sharply, more clearly,
more concisely. What if
exercise helped people over-
come depression, and beat
back dementia? Can exercise
become a proven method
to manage these conditions
without relying on medica-
tion? Exercise science and
mental health professionals
think so.
It is no surprise that the
brain is also affected by
changes during exercise.
One specific chemical that is
released has profound impli-
cations — the active protein
called BDNF, which Mental
Health Daily described:
“BDNF influences a vari-
ety of functions including:
preventing death of exist-
ing brain cells, inducing the
growth of new neurons (neu-
rogenesis) and synapses,
and supporting cognitive
Dr. Thomas R. Rheuben
function. Low levels of
BDNF are often problem-
atic and have been linked
to Alzheimer’s, accelerated
aging, poor neural develop-
ment, neurotransmitter dys-
function, obesity, depression,
and even schizophrenia.”
This chemical is increased
with exercise. Just 30 min-
utes of continuous exercise
at around 70 percent of heart
rate maximum was enough
to elicit a significant increase
in BDNF.
The benefits don’t stop
there. The National Institute
of Mental Health estimated
that 3.3 million people suffer
major depression in the U.S.
This is the type of depression
where a person may draw the
curtains, stay in bed, under-
going a feeling of helpless-
ness for extended periods of
time. There are also people
experiencing mild depres-
sion, which is often under-
diagnosed. While the nor-
mal treatment for depression
is pharmaceuticals, there
is increasing evidence that
exercise can be an effective
treatment.
A special health report
by Harvard revealed that
on a trial between exercise
and the antidepressant drug
Zoloft, the results were the
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— Kindling —
same — at about 60-70 per-
cent effective. They assume
that the reason is “exer-
cise enhances the action of
endorphins, chemicals that
circulate throughout the
body. Endorphins improve
natural immunity and reduce
the perception of pain. They
may also serve to improve
mood. Another theory is that
exercise stimulates the neu-
rotransmitter norepinephrine,
which may directly improve
mood.”
This is a major finding,
and should encourage any-
one to exercise, whether suf-
fering depression or not. It
is likely safe to say anyone
might enjoy an improved
state of well-being through
exercise.
Another surprise is the
effect of aging on the brain
and the relationship to exer-
cise. Art Kramer of the
University of Illinois stud-
ied the brains of geriatrics
and found that the brains
of people who consistently
exercised were much health-
ier. In one study they discov-
ered that starting an exercise
program in older adults
increased the size of the
brain. Notably, the hippo-
campus, which is responsible
for emotions and long-term
memory formation. This has
implications for staving off
dementia, and possibly the
risk of Alzheimer’s.
All the group of subjects
did to achieve this was a
program of consistent mod-
erate exercise similar to the
30 minutes five times a week
often recommended by fit-
ness professionals.
Perhaps all this is gospel
to the choir and many people
reading this are already con-
sistent exercisers. If this is
true, affirmation that moder-
ate exercise, around 30-45
minutes, a few times a week
is very healthy for the brain
shouldn’t hurt. Conversely,
if exercise is not part of a
weekly routine, this may
be the perfect reason to get
started.
Anyone can enjoy the
benefit of better mental
health, without special treat-
ment — just get out and start
moving.
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