Study : fitness protects against depression and heart disease death in later life

PRnewswire: New research from The Cooper Institute, in collaboration with UT Southwestern Medical Center, shows a strong relationship between fitness, depression and death from heart disease. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry, shows that inpiduals with higher fitness in middle age have lower risk of depression and death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) decades later.

"These new insights illustrate the importance of fitness to maintain both physical and psychological health as we age," said Dr. Benjamin Willis, Director of Epidemiology at The Cooper Institute and lead author of the study. "Now we know that the long-term benefits and the connection between mind-body wellness are more significant than we thought.  We hope our study will highlight the role of fitness and physical activity in early prevention efforts by physicians in promoting healthy aging."

Previous studies have shown the immediate psychological benefits of exercise including increased energy and improved mental well-being.  Many longer term benefits of exercise are well-established such as lower risk of death, heart failure, and a number of health conditions.  The surprising long-term benefits related to mood and subsequent heart disease death were less clear until now.

"There are clear links between fitness, heart health and brain health," said Dr. Willis. "It's never too late to get off the couch to improve fitness at any age."

The results demonstrate that aerobic fitness is important to the long-term prevention of both depression and CVD death. Regular exercise may also prevent cognitive decline as we age, as shown in two recent studies by The Cooper Institute. Some examples of aerobic exercise include:

• Brisk walking
• Running or Jogging
• Swimming
• Cycling

"Maintaining a healthy dose of exercise is difficult, but it can be done. It just requires more effort and addressing unique barriers to regular exercise," says Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, co-author of the study and director of the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care, part of the Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern.