Exercise and sports for health promotion, disease, and disability

摘要

We are honored to present this issue on Exercise and Sports for Health Promotion, Disease, and Disability on behalf of PM&R: The Journal of Injury, Function, and Rehabilitation and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. If there was a pill that provided the myriad benefits of exercise, it would likely be the best-selling medication ever to be developed! In multiple studies, investigators have shown that regular physical activity and exercise can reduce the risk of cancer, including breast and colon cancer; reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer dementia; reduce the incidence of heart disease and high blood pressure; lower the risk of stroke and developing type II diabetes; aid in weight loss and weight maintenance; and decrease depression as effectively as antidepressant medication or behavioral therapy. Conyersely, a low level of physical activity can expose a person to a greater risk of dying than %ven the risk from smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, or obesity. It is better to have cardiorespiratory fitness and be overweight than unfit with a lower percentage of body fat. The introduction of exercise into the workplace has been shown to reduce health care costs, missed work, and hospitalization. Despite these findings, however, a significant majority of adults in the United States and other parts of the world do not meet the minimum physical activity requirements for health and fitness. When direct measures are examined, physical inactivity has been found to be the leading cause of death in the United States [1].