pharmaphorum February 15, 2024
Doctors should think twice before prescribing drug therapies when faced with someone battling depression, as exercise may be more effective, according to a new study.
A meta-analysis of 218 randomised clinical trials published in the British Medical Journal suggests that walking, jogging, yoga, and strength training were the most effective forms of exercise, matching talking therapies and outperforming antidepressants.
However, the best results seemed to come when exercise was combined with medication, and there were only a few head-to-head trials, so the relative merits of exercise and drug therapies need further study.
Exercise should now be considered alongside psychotherapy and antidepressants as “core treatments” for depression, according to the authors of the paper, who were led by Michael Noetel of...
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