ASU and the American College of Sports Medicine hosted a national conference Saturday discussing the importance of physical activity and healthy lifestyles for patients with long-term illnesses.
The National Strategic Summit: Roadmap for Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Comparative Effectiveness Research conference discussed the need for physicians to prescribe exercise and healthy dieting to patients suffering from ailments like type 2 diabetes, depression and lower back pain. Comparative effectiveness research, or CER, is the scientific comparison of the potential benefits and harm of healthcare treatments.
The conference, which took place in the Nursing and Health Innovation 2 building, featured a number of renowned medical professionals who are experts in the field of CER, including professionals from universities such as Harvard, Dartmouth, UC San Diego and others.
ASU health and wellness professor Barbara Ainsworth organized the conference with the help of James R. Whitehead, executive vice president of the American College of Sports Medicine. In the past, Whitehead has been involved with the U.S. Olympic Committee and the American Diabetes Association.
The speakers presented studies that proved the effectiveness of living an active lifestyle for patients suffering from chronic ailments.
“I think we need to start with prescribing exercise to every patient,” said Dr. Robert E. Sallis, chairman for the Exercise is Medicine initiative and former president of the American College of Sports Medicine.
Sallis urged the medical community to inform their patients of the benefits and cost effectiveness of daily exercise, explaining that it would be unethical not do so because exercise is in the best interests of patients, physically and financially.
By finding time for daily exercise, it is possible to reduce need for expensive medications that can cost Americans thousands of dollars a year. To emphasize the importance of exercise, the conference provided music for individuals to participate in Zumba-like exercises. Others did jumping jacks.
According to research mentioned at the conference, only one in six patients follow medications as prescribed and patients that are prescribed medicine in pill form are less likely to exercise and keep a healthy diet.
The 2010 Affordable Care Act provided major funding for research on CER in an attempt to discover how to better improve the current healthcare climate in the United States.
Andrew Miller, a doctoral student studying health and wellness, mentioned that while many medications come with negative side effects, exercise only has benefits.
“I think (CER is) the first line of defense combating ailments such as type 2 diabetes and other illnesses associated with obesity,” Miller said.
Contact the reporter at amclar15@asu.edu
