Depressed People May Benefit from Exercise
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Call it personalized medicine for depression- but the prescription in this case is exercise, which University of Florida Health researchers have found helps people with certain genetic traits.
A UF study has found that specific genetic markers that put people at risk for depression also predict who might benefit from exercise, according to a study published recently in The Journal of Frailty & Aging.
The researchers found that men who were carriers of two specific genes had the most significant response to exercise. The results suggest physical activity as part of a treatment plan -exercise as moderate as walking- could help the carriers of these genes.
"I want to better understand who could benefit most from physical activity. I'd like to take the same approach to exercise that we take to medication, which is to have a personalized medicine approach," said Vonetta Dotson, Ph.D., the study's first author. "If we show through systematic research that exercise has a good chance of helping a patient because of their particular characteristics, I think that might help with patients' motivation to exercise."
The results came from a small pilot study, so more research needs to be done before this work can be translated into clinical practice. But in the future, it's possible that blood or saliva could be tested to determine if a person could benefit from physical activity to lower depressive symptoms.
