Better to hunt in fields for health unbought;
Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught.
The wise, for cure, on exercise depend;
God never made his work for man to mend
(John Dryden -1631-1700)
Exercise is the best medicine to prevent complications, the best antidote to modern maladies, and the perfect prescription to cure/decrease risk of diseases. This article describes the link between exercise and disease and how physical activity can reduce the risk of common diseases.
How exercise decreases the risk of Diseases
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Physical activity improves endothelial (the layer lining the blood vessel) function, which in turn improves blood flow through the blood vessels and as such reduces blood pressure. Most medical studies show that you don't have to train hard to lower blood pressure. Walking for 30 minutes every other day can reduce the risk of stroke by more than 25 percent.
Obesity
Daily exercise burn up the calories and reduce fat storage thereby decreasing your weight.
Cancer
By being physically active, you can reduce your risk of breast and bowel cancer. Keeping active could help to prevent 9,000 cases of cancer in the UK every year. It is not clear yet why exercise should help - it may alter levels of hormones which are keys to cancer development, or perhaps alter the speed at which food moves through the bowel, which may also have a bearing. Exercise prevents constipation and improves bowel function which in turn reduces the risk of bowel cancer.
Diabetes
Muscles which are working use more glucose than those that are resting. Muscle movement leads to greater sugar uptake by muscle cells and lower blood sugar levels. The Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP), showed that a healthy diet and a moderate exercise programme resulting in a 5 to 7 percent weight loss can delay and possibly prevent type 2 diabetes.
Heart attacks
During exercise, you tone up your whole body's circulation, helping to clear away clots in the blood vessels and making the heart a more efficient pump. By exercising you strengthen your heart muscles and train them to pump more blood with less effort. Regular participation in physical activity as well as a single exercise session can positively alter cholesterol metabolism (Durstine & Haskell, 1994).
Stroke (blot clot or bleeding in the brain)
In a 2003 study, researchers show exercise will reduce the risk of stroke by 64%, (Physical activity and stroke risk: a meta-analysis, 2003, Lee). There are several plausible ways by which physical activity might reduce stroke risk. Hypertension and deposition of fat molecules in the blood vessels of the brain are major causes of stroke. Physical activity lowers blood pressure and improves lipid profiles. In addition, physical activity can play an antithrombotic (prevents clotting of blood) which can reduce heart attack or stroke.
Stress, anxiety and depression
Exercise improves the hormone function which can reduce the anxiety and stress levels in the body.
High cholesterol levels
Exercise increases the amount of HDL cholesterol (the good kind of cholesterol) in your blood, while reducing the amount of LDL cholesterol (the bad, artery-clogging kind of cholesterol). Exercise promotes weight loss and weight control (thereby reducing excess cholesterol).
Thus the effects of exercise extend to nearly every system of our body. The benefits include both physical and psychological aspects of life. Exercising your brain by reading, doing cross word puzzle etc can ward off dementia in old age. Thus exercise becomes our poisoned world's best antidote.
