Exercise as a treatment modality for depression: A narrative review

Abstract

a b s t r a c tDepression is a major health burden associated with poor quality of life and impaired functioning. Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide and is associated with profound economic costs. Depression is usually treated with antidepressant medications and psychological therapy or combination of both. However, there are lot of limitations associated with these therapies and as a result, a number of alternative or adjunctive therapies have been sought for. Exercise is one such option with a lot of substantial supportive research. The objective of the article was to review the beneficial effects of exercise in depression. An electronic search of literature from inception till 06/2017 highlighting the effects of exercise on depression and the possible mechanistic pathways involved was conducted using PubMed/ Medline, Google scholar and Scopus and relevant articles were utilized for this review. The results of this review confirmed the beneficial role of exercise in depression as evidenced by the improvement in the outcomes and the various psychobiological parameters measured. Thus exercise can be considered as a treatment option for the management of depression. Ó 2018 Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Barriers and facilitators to adherence to walking group exercise in older people living with dementia in the community: a systematic review

“…Other evidence suggests that exercise does not help reduce challenging behaviour associated with dementia or depression symptoms [ 50 ]. However, clinical guidance and research literature indicates that short periods of light-moderate intensity exercise, such as walking, can improve the symptoms of depression and reduce stress levels [ 71 , 72 ]. This further reinforces the need for the benefits of exercise to be promoted by healthcare professionals, as part of a multi-dimensional program of care and through recruitment strategies employed by walking group instructors.…”

Physical Activity and the Occurrence of Postnatal Depression—A Systematic Review

“…The positive influence of regular physical activities on eliminating depressive disorders was explained using several mechanisms [68]. Exercises increase the concentration of neurotransmitters such as 5HT, dopamine, and noradrenaline [69].…”

Differences in Objectively Measured Daily Physical Activity Patterns Related to Depressive Symptoms in Community Dwelling Women - mPED Trial

“…Although many studies found a relation between overall levels of physical activity and depressive symptoms 10,11,36,41,42 of which most were measured by self-report physical activity, a few studies that used objectively measured physical activity also did not nd this relationship 14,43 . The results of this study suggest that differences in physical activity in depression (when measured objectively) might not lie in the total amount of activity, but rather in the day-to-day differences in patterns of physical activity.…”

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