New Study Finds Exercise Helps Battle Depression

Putting down the remote and picking up a few weights is an excellent recipe to avoid packing on a few holiday pounds, and a recent study from Yale University's School of Medicine suggests that exercise may have a few added benefits that won't show up on the scale. According to research compiled in the journal Nature Medicine, physical activity can help combat the holiday blues as well.

Roman Duman, a professor of psychology at Yale, and his colleagues discovered that exercise motivates the activity of a certain gene related to mood elevation. The gene, known as VGF, proved to be a potent anti-depressant in lab mice that Duman and his teams studied, and could provide an alternative to expensive medications with dangerous side effects.

"The VGF exercise-related gene and target for drug development could be even better than chemical antidepressants because it is already present in the brain," Duman, the lead author of the Nature Medicine report, explained.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, around 20.9 million American adults - nearly 9.5 percent of those 18 or older - have been diagnosed with mood disorders, including chronic, mild, and major depressive disorders. In addition, major depressive disorder is the leading cause of disability among Americans aged 15-44.

However, these Americans are not without help - the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides medical guides for 36 different antidepressant medications, such as Lexapro, Prozac, and Zoloft. Recently, concerns have been raised about the safety of such drugs, as initial treatment often increased suicidal thoughts and behaviors in young adults.

Thankfully, the Yale University study provides some indications for natural mood elevation. In addition to VGF, the researchers identified 32 genes located in the hippocampus that were regulated by exercise. The hippocampus is a crucial part of the limbic system, which controls behaviors, emotions and memories. Because of these roles, the region is a common target of anti-depressant medications.

To ensure that it was VGF that was elevating the moods of the lab mice, Duman and his colleagues also manipulated the gene without relying on exercise to spur its action. When the researchers administered VGF as if it were a medication, it displayed the same impressive effect, while blocking the gene induced depression and negated the effects of exercise. Duman explained that this proved VGF's potential as an alternative antidepressant.

"Identification of VGF provides a mechanism by which exercise produces antidepressant effects," he said. "This information further supports the benefits of exercise and provides a novel target for the development of new antidepressants with a completely different mechanism of action than existing medications."

SOURCES:

Press Release, Yale University
National Institute of Mental Health
U.S. Food and Drug Administration