THE FIRST results from a major study on depression suggest that short but strenuous workouts lasting as little as eight minutes can dramatically reduce symptoms for a short time.
Acute physical activity, not just sustained and regular exercise, may decrease feelings of depression, tension, anger, confusion and fatigue, according to Dr Kathleen Moore of Duke University Medical Centre in North Carolina. "Earlier studies have shown that sustained exercise programmes lower depressive symptoms in normal people," she said.
"But the Duke study is the first to test the benefits of acute exercise on a group of people actually diagnosed with clinical depression."
The study involved 55 participants over the age of 50. They answered 60 questions and then walked on a treadmill for up to 14 minutes at maximum effort. Then they answered the questions again. The study found that participants "experienced an 82 per cent reduction in feelings of depression, tension, fatigue, anger and confusion.
"The severity of their depression - mild, moderate or severe - did not influence the level of improvement they felt after the test." Four fifths of participants felt more vigorous.
The results are to be presented today at the Society of Behavioral Medicine meeting in San Francisco.
