Keeping the doctor away

This is the outcome of a metaepidemiological study conducted by researchers at the London School of Economics and Harvard Medical School, among others. The research team led by Huseyin Naci published its findings in the British Medical Journal.

The researchers surveyed several previous studies, evaluating data relating to a total of 339 000 patients diagnosed with stroke, heart disease or the preliminary stages of Type 2 diabetes, which is usually associated with ageing.

The study concluded that exercise should be prescribed more frequently in future as an alternative to treatment with drugs.

While the health advantages of taking exercise have long been known and frequently researched, there had to date been too few direct comparisons with treatment by medication, the study said.

In response to the study, health professionals warned against starting a programme of exercise and simultaneously ceasing medication.

The results showed exercise was most effective for stroke patients in the rehabilitation phase. In many cases patients achieved considerably better results with movement than with medication, the researchers said.

With respect to heart disease and for patients with blood sugar levels indicating the possible onset of Type 2 diabetes, taking appropriate exercise was as effective as drug treatment in most cases.

Only in the case of heart failure was it apparent that diuretics – which promote the passing of water – were more effective than exercise or other kinds of medication.

“In cases where drug options provide only modest benefit, patients deserve to understand the relative impact that physical activity might have on their condition,” the researchers said.

A “blind spot” in the available evidence prevented doctors and patients from understanding that “drugs might provide only modest improvement but exercise could yield more profound or sustainable gains in health,” they said.

Noting that “an increasing number of experts recommend prescribing an ‘exercise pill’ as a preventive strategy to reduce morbidity and mortality,” the researchers said pharmaceutical companies should in future studies compare the effects of drugs not only with placebos but also with taking exercise.

In response to the study, British organisations such as Diabetes UK and the Stroke Association stressed that it was well known that an active lifestyle was beneficial to general health.

But it was also important that patients did not stop taking prescribed medication and begin to rely solely on exercise without first discussing this with their doctor.

Amy Thompson of the British Heart Foundation said further research and comparative studies were needed. – Sapa-dpa.