Exercise drives away disease better than pillsWouldn't it be nice, just once, to head to the pharmacy counter without feeling like you're at some sadistic swap meet? Fill that prescription to lower your stroke risk, and you could be getting diarrhea and chest pains in the bargain. Want to lower your cholesterol with statins? You might be trading high cholesterol for a lifetime of kidney damage! If you'd like to quit the pharmaceutical flea market once and for all, a massive new study has uncovered a simple remedy that's sitting in the back of your closet right now. This cure has plenty of strings attached -- but not how you think. It's your tennis shoes -- and it turns out they run CIRCLES around Big Pharma's billion-dollar pills for treating everything from stroke to diabetes. An enormous new study just published in the British Medical Journal analyzed 339,000 health records and found that exercise is every bit as effective -- and you can bet a whole lot safer -- than prescription drugs for treating heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Researchers from the London School of Economics, Harvard, and Stanford (not too shabby of a team there!) analyzed 305 studies that looked at statins, beta blockers, anti-platelet therapy -- you name it -- and nothing held a candle to whiling away some minutes on that trusty treadmill. Exercise worked just as well as drugs for treating heart disease and controlling blood sugar, but the results were even more impressive for folks who had suffered strokes. Nothing Big Pharma had in its arsenal even came close to delivering the same benefits of some simple exercise and strength training for stroke patients. Researchers say their study proves that exercise will work as an alternative to drugs -- and I say amen to that! They've even suggested that Big Pharma start comparing their drugs to exercise -- and not just placebos -- during clinical trials. That's sure to make some drug company execs nauseous, which is just fine with me. Sounds like a taste of their own medicine! In the meantime, if you're struggling with high blood sugar, heart disease, or stroke recovery, it's time to lace up those sneakers and get on an exercise routine. With a little more time walking around the block, you may find yourself spending much less time walking up to that pharmacy counter. And I'm betting that's one side effect you can live with. Yours in good health, Bob Reagan
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