Need a New Year’s Resolution? Try Exercise! Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Ahmed Raza Khan, MD, MPH <o:p></o:p></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Follow<a href="https://twitter.com/AhmedRazaKhanMD"><span style="color: blue;">@AhmedRazaKhanMD</span></a><o:p></o:p></span><br /> <br /> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Physician at Stanford University<br />School of Medicine <o:p></o:p></span><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Most people know that exercise is beneficial for cardiac health and is prescribed by physicians for the prevention and alleviation of various medical complications. But what if I told you exercise can also significantly benefit your mental health in more ways than one? Let’s take a look at some of the ways exercise can improve mental health and how to incorporate this into your new year’s resolution list!</span><br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5cNIBlM-vyMP8RbO_Zf-XVi7Ozh-6omAE-onQlWCFJ_Fe3tGGId1bZUkawvUR6QMil3FSyaMxQV1ZiP2u36sVTMVqlpfeBh-RZT0Lz9xMIBwjOIGH5QCPh7hTxo6vC6utZmycfzBjGMM/s1600/Khan+chart+photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5cNIBlM-vyMP8RbO_Zf-XVi7Ozh-6omAE-onQlWCFJ_Fe3tGGId1bZUkawvUR6QMil3FSyaMxQV1ZiP2u36sVTMVqlpfeBh-RZT0Lz9xMIBwjOIGH5QCPh7hTxo6vC6utZmycfzBjGMM/s1600/Khan+chart+photo.png" width="320" /></a><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Exercise and Depression Prevention:<span style="color: #222222;">More than 350 million people in the world suffer from <a href="http://www.psychiatry.org/depression"><span style="color: blue;">depression</span></a> and it is the leading<br />cause of disability worldwide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Exercise<br />has often been considered as a supplemental tool in treating depression, but<br />recent evidence points to exercise playing a role in the prevention of future<br />depressive episodes. These recent findings show that even low levels of<br />physical activity (e.g., walking less than 150 minutes a week) can prevent<br />future depression. There has been significant research in the last few years<br />that links cardiovascular health’s role in the origin of depression. This would<br />certainly be a plausible explanation for why exercise may prevent depression. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention:<span style="color: #222222;"><a href="http://www.psychiatry.org/mental-health/key-topics/alzheimers-disease"><span style="color: blue;">Alzheimer’s<br />disease</span></a> is a chronic, degenerative disease of the brain that affects over<br />25 million people in the world. This illness leads to a progressive mental<br />decline, steering its victims to dependence on caregivers and, eventually,<br />death. Amyloid plaques are abnormal clusters of protein fragments that are<br />found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and are thought to<br />play a major role in its progression. Recent studies have found that people who<br />exercised at or above the levels recommended by the American Heart Association<br />had significantly lower numbers of amyloid plaques than those who exercised<br />less. This was the case for even those who carried </span>the APOE-e4 gene<br />variant, which is an established risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. When<br />people with the APOE-e4 gene variant were compared, those with higher levels of<br />exercise had lower levels of amyloid plaques.<span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Improving Cognitive Functioning:<span style="color: #222222;">Exercise has been shown<br />to increase cognitive functioning in rats. As rats get older, their memory<br />tends to diminish and this appears to be due to a drop of nerve synapses in the<br />hippocampus, the memory center of the brain. But after 12 weeks of voluntary<br />running, both memory and hippocampus nerve synapses were restored in these<br />rats. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Consistency in Exercise:<span style="color: #222222;">Recent neuroscientific<br />studies have shown that the cognitive benefit of exercise may have a window of<br />time. In fact, rats that improved their cognitive functioning by exercise, had<br />this improvement dissipate in 3-6 weeks of inactivity. This is similar to what<br />is seen with muscle mass or heart rate when exercise is withdrawn. This<br />evidence intimates that exercise is beneficial for the brain and should be<br />performed consistently.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /> <br /> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The </span><a href="http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">American Heart Association</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is a great<br />resource for planning the amount and type of exercise one needs. They recommend<br />at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity at least 5 days a<br />week for a total of 150 minutes or at least 25 minutes of vigorous aerobic<br />activity 3 days a week for a total of 75 minutes. An easy target to remember:<br />30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNERUKnfc0j5eYAelDoyDC9WgQnLXF0Ti1V19IRwju_QBfNRILOEC1CLOtAKlejqL_guXeWGotvWOV1vv4MMExGaXrGp7A0tTGu2UxJjk1vs3VarJ-grhXb3aFNDbR_YPLEO60C-8tM1QD/s1600/Dr.+Khan+high+inten+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Need a New Year’s Resolution? Try Exercise! Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNERUKnfc0j5eYAelDoyDC9WgQnLXF0Ti1V19IRwju_QBfNRILOEC1CLOtAKlejqL_guXeWGotvWOV1vv4MMExGaXrGp7A0tTGu2UxJjk1vs3VarJ-grhXb3aFNDbR_YPLEO60C-8tM1QD/s1600/Dr.+Khan+high+inten+photo.jpg" title="American heart Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention" width="270" /></a><br /> <br /></div>

Alzheimer's Disease depression exercise psychiatrist psychiatrist training psychotherapy Need a New Year’s Resolution? Try Exercise! Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention

By Ahmed Raza Khan, MD, MPH Follow @AhmedRazaKhanMD Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Physician at Stanford University School of Medicine...

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Effective Addiction Treatments are Available

<span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">B</span><span style="font-size: large;">y John Renner, MD and Frances Levin, MD<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">We are all saddened by the death of <span lang="EN">Philip Seymour Hoffman </span>and the many other<br />individuals who have died because of overdoses of heroin or pain<br />medications.  For all of those individuals who struggle with opioid use<br />problems, it is important to realize that help is available and that effective<br />treatment can restore them to productive lives.  Some 4.7 million people<br />in the U.S. have used heroin at least once in their lives.  It is estimated that nearly a quarter of<br />people that use heroin become dependent on it.<br /><br /><br /><br />Whether it be through mutual support programs such as NA, long-term residential<br />treatment, or addiction pharmacotherapy with buprenorphine, methadone or ER<br />naltrexone, no individual need fear that their condition cannot be<br />treated.  Friends and family members also need to be educated in the use<br />of intra-nasal naloxone for the reversal of opioid overdoses.   <br /><br /><br /><br />APA has long fostered the development of addiction focused training </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.psychiatry.org/practice/professional-interests/addiction-psychiatry"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">programs<br />for psychiatrists</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">.  Many psychiatrists have been specifically trained<br />to provide office-based addiction pharmacotherapy and to manage the<br />co-occurring psychiatric disorders that often complicate recovery from<br />substance use disorders.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">More information:<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">        <br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Information on </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.psychiatry.org/addiction"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">addiction</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">         </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://store.samhsa.gov/product/Opioid-Overdose-Prevention-Toolkit/SMA13-4742" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> (SAMHSA)<o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">        <br /></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/TreatmentLocator/faces/quickSearch.jspx"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Substance<br />use treatment locator</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> (SAMHSA)<o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">        <br /></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://buprenorphine.samhsa.gov/bwns_locator/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Buprenorphine Physician<br />and Treatment locator</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> (SAMHSA)<o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: large;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">        <br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">For psychiatrists:  </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://pcssmat.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Providers<br />Clinical Support System for Medication Assisted Treatment</span></a><o:p></o:p></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Blog<br />contributors:</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ofo4edMWxtY/UvFcrabrxHI/AAAAAAAAAyc/eubxcdyVte4/s1600/renner2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ofo4edMWxtY/UvFcrabrxHI/AAAAAAAAAyc/eubxcdyVte4/s1600/renner2.jpg" width="135" /></a><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">John<br />Renner, MD<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Member, APA Council on Addicition Psychiatry (Past Chair)<br />Director of Addiction Fellowship Program,<o:p></o:p></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Professor of Psychiatry,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Boston University School of Medicine<o:p></o:p></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Associate Chief of Psychiatry, VA Boston Healthcare System<o:p></o:p></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HVSelmRz3os/UvFchsGxd-I/AAAAAAAAAyU/Vp6bWczaW7Y/s1600/levin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HVSelmRz3os/UvFchsGxd-I/AAAAAAAAAyU/Vp6bWczaW7Y/s1600/levin.jpg" width="135" /></a><span class="factitle1"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; letter-spacing: 0.2pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"><b></b></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><span class="factitle1"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; letter-spacing: 0.2pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"><b><br /><br />Frances Levin, MD</b></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.2pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Chair, APA Council on Addiction Psychiatry<br />Kennedy-Leavy Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center<br /><br />Director, Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship, <br /><br />New York Presbyterian Hospital<br /><br />New York State Psychiatric Institute</span><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><br /></div><br /><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div><br /><a class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-related="APAPsychiatric" data-via="APAHealthyMinds" href="http://twitter.com/share">Tweet</a><script src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>

addiction medication overdose Phillip Seymour Hoffman psychiatrist training substance abuse treatment Effective Addiction Treatments are Available

B y John Renner, MD and Frances Levin, MD We are all saddened by the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman and the many other individuals who have...

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