Bangkok Post : Sports as medicine

When speaking of exercising to treat or prevent illnesses, most people automatically think about sweaty, exhausting sports, and inevitably dread doing that every time the word exercise is mentioned by their doctor.

The situation has improved a little now that TV campaigns promote the idea that you can exercise just by moving your body. the thought of exercising does not feel so exhausting anymore. On the other hand, some people have to find a better excuse not to exercise. the top reasons for not exercising are "I'm lazy" and "I have no time", as if everyone in the world was given a different amount of time each day.

From my experience, most people who don't want to exercise were not active as children. It is very difficult to tell _ or force or threaten _ this group of people to exercise. It might even be easier to tell smokers to kick the habit! I assume that it is because the negative effects of smoking have been publicised for many years so everyone knows that smoking and being near smokers are harmful.

We often hear claims tha smoking increases the chance of heart diseases, but not many people would say that not exercising increases the chance of heart diseases, when in fact the lack of exercise is even more dangerous than smoking. (Smokers who exercise, don't jump with joy just yet. Exercise for smokers can be riskier than for non-smokers!)

So, what exactly does exercise mean?

Exercise that is beneficial to the heart and the coronary arteries is aerobic exercise. the other types of exercise _ resistance training and stretching _ do not directly benefit the heart and the coronary arteries, but they are still recommended.

Aerobic exercise involves repeated movements of the large muscles for 20-30 minutes, including activities like walking, running, swimming, cycling, dancing or just jumping around. this kind of exercise can help:

- Strengthen the heart

- Increase the flexibility of blood vessels

Exercise can also help control your blood pressure, cholesterol level and blood sugar level. In order to achieve all these benefits, you need to exercise regularly, three to four times a week.

While exercise does not seem like a difficult task, statistics show that only 18% of Thais over the age of 10 exercise regularly. this means that more than 80% of Thai people are at risk of health problems due to the lack of exercise _ a figure higher than the number of smokers.

Compared to those who exercise regularly, non-exercisers have 30-50% more chance of having high blood pressure, and two to five times more chance of experiencing a heart disease.

During exercise, the heart will beat faster and harder, and the blood pressure will temporarily increase. this is a normal response. after exercise, the blood pressure will drop to a lower point than before exercise, and it will remain at that level for up to six hours _ better than any blood pressure medication!

For those who are afraid of ageing, bear in mind that 80% of the signs of ageing can be prevented by regular exercise. keep your mind healthy by watching your emotions and meditating.

I met four patients consecutively, all of whom had been told to exercise regularly. These are the excuses they gave for not exercising:

Patient 1 (overweight, with high blood pressure): I'm lazy!

Patient 2 (a skinny smoker with narrowed arteries): I can't find the time!

Patient 3 (a businessman with high cholesterol and symptoms of tightness in the chest): I don't know where to go to exercise!

Patient 4 (confident, shaky heart, high blood pressure): I always exercise, I type from morning to evening, five days a week. I move my fingers all day long!

Dr Nithi Mahanonda is a consultant cardiologist and interventionist at Perfect Heart Institute, Piyavate Hospital

Bangkok Post : Sports as medicine

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