I admire my colleagues who, besides their busy practice, indulge in sports activities. Right now I have in mind Dr Belinda Viegas-Mueller, a busy psychiatrist who is also an extraordinary novelist, cyclist and mountaineer. A few years ago, she scaled the Wetterstein Mountains in her eighth month of pregnancy. Recently, she achieved the feat of being the only Indian–and Goan–woman to have cycled 1200 kms in under 90 hours in an event at Jaipur. She has a successful psychiatric practice at Varcá in South Goa.
After a bout of depression, I myself was under her expert care. She spends most of the time in counseling and prescribes a minimum of drugs. She insists that drugs play only a small role in the treatment of depression. “You must go outdoors: cycling or doing what you like the most”, she contends. “In your case,” she chided me gently, “I know you love music, so go and sing to your heart’s content.” I must confess that I really got over my blues, not only when I sang wherever I found an opportunity, but also when I got busy writing a fortnightly column for the Herald, at the editor’s instance (a noble gesture by my good friend Sujay). But I really touched the sky when, with great difficulty, I acquired the advanced state-of the-art Echocardiography machine, thePhilips ie33. Climbing the Echocardiography ladder further I now possess one of the topmost Echocardiography machines in the world, the Philips Live Real Time 3D/4D EPIQ 7C with “Heart Model” which grants me a rare sense of fulfilment, shooing away all traces of depression. Hopefully never to return!
The champion Belinda is a rare example; so also the pediatrician Dr Mukul Raiturkar and orthodontist Dr Priya Rao who are respected marathon runners. But in some way or the other all of us are becoming more and more conscious of the benefits of exercise. Regular aerobic exercise is one of the best things you can do for yourself. It helps cut your chances of getting heart disease. It is good for your blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, energy levels and mood as well. Aerobic exercise is sometimes known as “cardio-exercise” that requires pumping of oxygenated blood by the heart to deliver oxygen to working muscles.
Often doctors are asked which is better: walking or running? Both are popular ways to get a great cardio workout. But is a brisk walk really as good an exercise as a sweaty, heart-pounding run? Research reported by the American Heart Association finds that walking is just as good as running when it comes to lowering your risk of heart disease. 48,000 runners and walkers mainly in their 40s and 50s were analyzed. They found that, mile for mile, brisk walking lowers the risk for diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure as much as running does. The difference? You’ll have to spend more time walking than you do running to get the same health benefits simply because it takes longer to walk than to run the same distance. For instance, a 15-minute jog burns about the same number of calories as a half-hour brisk walk. You don’t have to stick to either walking or running. You can stay motivated by mixing both: adding short sprints to your walking routine which will give you a bigger calorie-burning boost for your efforts.
How does exercise help you? Here is what Mayo Clinic researchers have to say: 1. Exercise controls weight by burning calories. 2. Exercise combats your proneness to diseases. It boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good,” cholesterol and decreases unhealthy triglycerides. 3. Exercise improves your mood. It provides an emotional lift by blowing off some steam after a stressful day. 4. Exercise promotes better sleep. Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster and deepen your sleep. But don’t exercise too close to bedtime, or you may be too energized to hit the sack. 6. Exercise puts the spark back into your sex life. 7. Exercise can be fun … and social! Exercise and physical activity can be also a source of joy giving you a chance to unwind, enjoy the outdoors or simply engage in activities that make you happy. Physical activity can also help you connect with family or friends in a fun, social setting. Here is the bottom line on exercise: Exercise and physical activity are a great way to feel better, boost your health and have fun. Aim for at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise, or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise.
I must confess that I myself have been a little slack about exercise lately. After an exhausting day’s work, I come and sit down for my meal. I never miss the cup that cheers: a peg of whisky, as we all know, may give you empty calories but it boosts the appetite. To make matters worse, my loving wife cooks the things I like the most, and insists that I at least “taste” them. Fagged out by then, I go to bed to crash out. Yet the words of American world heavyweight boxer Gene Tunney haunt my mind, “To enjoy the glow of good health you must… yes… you must exercise”. Tomorrow, I say. But tomorrow may never come!
(Dr. Francisco Colaço is a
seniormost consulting
physician.)
