Health Essay Example: Exercise as Medicine

Physical activities can be defined as all body movements, which are produced by skeletal muscles resulting in the expenditure of energy above the level of the basal. Physical activities result from a complex system of behaviors. The ability to relate physical activities to health conditions depend on how accurate, dependable and precise the observed measures are. Physical activity can be measured by either direct monitoring through electronic/physiological measurements or a self-report. Physical activities are distinct from physical fitness. The latter is a set of attributes that a person have or achieved that can be related to the ability of them to perform physical activity.

Discussion

Enormous changes in the lifestyle of people have increasingly become prevalent in the current society. This lifestyle change has led to increased physical inactivity, which makes it risky for such people to conduct coronary heart diseases (CHD). Physical inactivity cuts across all ages and sex in a population. It causes a significant public health burden to the involved parties. Concrete steps need to be taken to counter this menace or else the projected future public health cost would be enormous. Physical exercises are well associated with many health benefits, and it plays a core role in the modification of other CHD risk factors (Al-Hazzaa, 2010).

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major cause of deaths in most developing countries. The following non-communicable diseases cause CVDs: high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, low vegetable and fruit intake, obesity and being overweight. When looked upon keenly, all of this is because of lack of enough physical activity. The hazards of morbidity, mortality, and disability related to non-communicable diseases, which include sedentary life, has become considerably high and it is continuing to grow. According to a WHO report, physical inactivity is among the top ten leading cause of deaths and globally (Booth et al., 2012).

Sedentary life has been estimated to cause about 23% of ischemic heart diseases. About 15 % of cases of breast, colon and rectal cancer is associated with physical inactivity. Quantitative research approach carried out in the USA estimates that sedentary life can be held responsible for about 30% of CHD deaths, 35 % of deaths from diabetes and 32% of deaths due to colon cancer. In the USA, physical inactivity-related diseases cause over fourteen times more deaths each year than Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

There are interventions, which can be made and put into practice to mitigate the effects of physical inactivity on people's health in the society. Legislative initiatives and national policies are required urgently to encourage an active lifestyle and at the same time discourage sedentary habits of living. Monitoring of physical activities in a population through an established surveillance system would represent a cornerstone for programs that would aim at promoting an active lifestyle. Medical communities, including the clinical officers, should play a leading role in the promotion of physical activity.

The health officers should provide counseling and routine assessments on physical activities and should exercise the correct prescriptions on the patients. In schools, established routines on daily physical activities for students should be implemented. Emphasis should be put on the quality of the curricular activities, which will help the students to develop their attitude, knowledge, motor skills, and confidence, which is needed in the adoption, and maintenance of physically active lifestyles.

Physical activities opportunities should be made available to a wide range of people including women, children and the elderly. Given that walking is acceptable across different sociodemographic groups of people, efforts must be put in place to increase both indoor and outdoor walking trails. Promoting walking as a way of movement would increase the amount of physical activity in a given society and thus reducing the impact caused by physical inactivity. It is approved and well documented that increased physical activities reduce cholesterol levels, blood pressure and as well increases insulin sensitivity and therefore reducing the risks of developing diabetes type 2. Also, physical activities play a major role in reducing body weight and or preventing weight gain and thus bringing about beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system.

Increased aerobic capacity and physical activity have resulted in decreased mortality and morbidity both in healthy populations and in high prevalence patient groups such as those with ischemic heart diseases. Results from a survey conducted by Hunt showed that one vigorous physical activity such as a workout in a week was linked with about 39% reduction in mortality rate for men and a 51% reduction in mortality for women (Everson-Hock et al., 2016). High-intensity training should be encouraged. This practice can be achieved through interval training, which may be an efficient way to implement high intensity of exercising to increase aerobic exercise capacity and thus improving health.

The principle of interval training applies the high-intensity exercise bouts which are alternated by short periods of lower intensity exercises which allow time for recovery and to enable a person to engage in an alternate set of high-intensity exercise. When repeated severally, the stimulus which is the total accumulated duration during the high-intensity stage will be maximized. This period determines the outcome of the training. High-intensity training has proven to be promising in both patients and healthy individuals. Even people with adverse risk factors such as CHD patients can tolerate and respond to this type of training.

A call for increased physical activities will have the following benefits not only to the public health community but also to the economy of the country. It will reduce the medical expenses of treating patients with diseases relating to physical inactivity and being obese. With more people who are physically fit, the working capacity of the population would increase automatically. This increase would, in turn, reduce the socio-economic costs. With everything in place rightly, health policies on sustainable development and stability would be ensured.

Justification and Conclusion

With the above interventions put in place, the following health hazards will be harnessed and mitigated. The psychological well being of a person is a factor of the number of activities the person gets involved. Physical activities and exercises are proven to relieve stress. Scientists determined that there is an association existing between exercises and the mental variable (Len Kravitz, 2015). People who are fit can manage stress efficiently than those who are not fit. The mood of a person can be changed by them being involved in some activities. The same with anxiety, depression, and self-esteem can all be determined by the physical exercises the person gets involved.

In clinical practice, the interventions on how to fight physical activities, for example, a psychiatry should prescribe to their patients mostly those suffering from acute stress and mental illness to get involved in physical activities. Physical activities are meant to trigger aerobic respiration and capacity of the mind which can relieve stress. Also, the health departments in collaboration with the authorities can increase gymnastic and other working out joints to promote the physical exercising mentality among the people and thus reducing sedentary behavior.

References

Al-Hazzaa, H.M., 2010. The Public Health Impact of Physical Inactivity in Saudi Arabia. J. Fam. Community Med. 11, 4551.

Booth, F.W., Roberts, C.K., Laye, M.J., 2012. Lack of exercise is a major cause of chronic diseases. Compr. Physiol. 2, 11431211. https://doi.org/10.1002/cphy.c110025

Everson-Hock, E.S., Green, M.A., Goyder, E.C., Copeland, R.J., Till, S.H., Heller, B., Hart, O., 2016. Reducing the Risks of physical inactivity: evidence to support the case for targeting people with chronic mental and physical conditions. J. Public Health 38, 343351. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdv036

Len Kravitz, 2015. The 25 Most Significant Health Benefits of Physical Activity & Exercise [WWW Document]. www.ideafit.com. URL http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/benefits-of-exercise (accessed 11.26.17).