"A lot of emphasis has been placed on physical activity for the prevention of cardiovascular disease risk factors, which remains an important focus. However, prescribing regular physical activity as an intervention treatment for those with cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure can in many cases, be as useful as some of the more expensive medical treatments," says Paul D. Thompson, M.D., director of preventive cardiology and cardiovascular research at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn., and lead author of the statement. "We feel physical activity as a treatment is under recommended by physicians."
The statement is unique because it includes data from 44 different studies and gives specific estimates of what physicians can expect from prescribing exercise, Thompson says. It also encourages physicians and other health-care providers to become more physically active, and to be advocates for physical activity in the nation's schools and communities.
For example, data suggests that regular physical activity may be all the treatment necessary for some patients with mild high blood pressure. Some studies show that exercise combined with mild weight loss can prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes as powerfully as some of the better available drugs, he says.
"We are not saying that physical activity is going to cure someone of all their risk factors, although it might cure some risk factors, but exercise can also be used as add-on therapy so that you need less blood pressure medicine, for example," he says.
Regular physical activity benefits patients with heart disease, peripheral vascular disease (in the vessels in the legs), and even some patients with heart failure, he adds.
"Heart failure is considered one of the worst diagnoses you can have. It certainly does restrict what patients can do if any exertion can make them short of breath. And yet there are some very early studies that suggest that regular physical activity can really improve people's ability to perform activities of daily living and help them to live fuller lives," Thompson says.
"The American Heart Association advocates 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking, on most and preferably all days of the week, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine," he says.
The statement also recommends physicians and health-care providers:
- Become physically active so they can be role models and to understand how to overcome issues involved in maintaining an active lifestyle.
- Use their influence as community members to encourage schools to develop physical education programs that encourage maintaining physically active lifestyles.
- Include patients' physical activity as part of their medical history.
- Provide an exercise prescription for patients.
- Encourage patients to engage in a variety of physical activities and to progressively increase their activity as tolerated.
- Advocate exercise in their communities by encouraging an environment in which people can exercise easily, including bike and walking paths, safe routes to walk to school and gymnasiums open in the evening.
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