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Another Reason to Get Moving: Anxiety Relief
Who's not feeling anxious these days? Statistics show that the number of medical office visits for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which affects 4 million people, has increased by 70% over the past 10 years. Nearly 20 million Americans (or 1 in 9) are affected by anxiety which is considered the most common mental health problem in the country. Women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with anxiety. During their lifetime, at least one quarter of men and women will experience an anxiety disorder. Only about a third of people who have anxiety actually receive treatment, which is usually a combination of behavior therapy and medication. But wait, here's some promising news about another option.
New research shows us that you may not have to run to your medicine cabinet for anxiety relief. Just lace up your sneakers and get some exercise. Princeton University researchers were working with rats and found that the brain cells of rats that exercise can handle stressful situations better than the cells of non-exercisers. It's already known that exercise stimulates the creation of new brain cells, called neurons. Scientists were curious about whether these new neurons reacted to stresses differently than neurons in non exercising rats. They measured a specific gene production by neurons under stress. After being stressed, the neurons of all of the rats' brains were activated. However, the new neurons that were created by exercise were less likely to express the typical gene that leads to the typical reaction of rats under stress- fright and anxiety. Instead, these exercise induced neurons seemed to be protected from the effects of stress. The results was that the rat was biochemically more calm. So, where do we go with this novel data?
Well, it's already been known that physical activity can elevate your mood. We didn't realize it also affected the reaction to anxiety as well. We can even trace the mechanism of action at the cellular level. Researchers are suggesting that exercise actually remodels the brain, potentially making it more resistant to stress. Exercise seems to induce a state of feeling less anxious and helpless under stress. It's also a fact that anxiety in both rodents and humans is linked with the production of excess amounts of oxidants which are toxic to cells and often lead to cell death. Experiments conducted by researchers at the University of Houston seemed to show that moderate levels of exercise dampen the effects of oxidative stress. It seems as though the stress of exercise actually causes changes in brain structures and pathways that leads to an ability to cope with psychological stressors. Does this transformation happen overnight? Not at all. In the rat experiments, it took no less than six weeks of consistent exercise to demonstrate these changes. The issue of intensity was not studied nor how many weeks of exercise would be an ideal exercise prescription for humans.
So what's the bottom line for you? If you're currently engaged in regular physical activity, don't stop. Keep it up. If you're now inspired to get going and "medicate your anxiety with movement" as I like to say, get going now. Regular exercise, ideally done with intervals of intensity, will elevate your mood, and keep you mentally and physically fit. And, now we see, that while you're walking, biking, swimming and hiking, your brain is changing - for the better. Here's to happy, stress resilient neurons!
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New research shows us that you may not have to run to your medicine cabinet for anxiety relief. Just lace up your sneakers and get some exercise. Princeton University researchers were working with rats and found that the brain cells of rats that exercise can handle stressful situations better than the cells of non-exercisers. It's already known that exercise stimulates the creation of new brain cells, called neurons. Scientists were curious about whether these new neurons reacted to stresses differently than neurons in non exercising rats. They measured a specific gene production by neurons under stress. After being stressed, the neurons of all of the rats' brains were activated. However, the new neurons that were created by exercise were less likely to express the typical gene that leads to the typical reaction of rats under stress- fright and anxiety. Instead, these exercise induced neurons seemed to be protected from the effects of stress. The results was that the rat was biochemically more calm. So, where do we go with this novel data?
Well, it's already been known that physical activity can elevate your mood. We didn't realize it also affected the reaction to anxiety as well. We can even trace the mechanism of action at the cellular level. Researchers are suggesting that exercise actually remodels the brain, potentially making it more resistant to stress. Exercise seems to induce a state of feeling less anxious and helpless under stress. It's also a fact that anxiety in both rodents and humans is linked with the production of excess amounts of oxidants which are toxic to cells and often lead to cell death. Experiments conducted by researchers at the University of Houston seemed to show that moderate levels of exercise dampen the effects of oxidative stress. It seems as though the stress of exercise actually causes changes in brain structures and pathways that leads to an ability to cope with psychological stressors. Does this transformation happen overnight? Not at all. In the rat experiments, it took no less than six weeks of consistent exercise to demonstrate these changes. The issue of intensity was not studied nor how many weeks of exercise would be an ideal exercise prescription for humans.
So what's the bottom line for you? If you're currently engaged in regular physical activity, don't stop. Keep it up. If you're now inspired to get going and "medicate your anxiety with movement" as I like to say, get going now. Regular exercise, ideally done with intervals of intensity, will elevate your mood, and keep you mentally and physically fit. And, now we see, that while you're walking, biking, swimming and hiking, your brain is changing - for the better. Here's to happy, stress resilient neurons!
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Labels: exercise, fitness, healthy lifestyle, mental health
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