Exercise is Medicine

 

As you may or may not know, May is Exercise is Medicine Month, a joint project by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).  The goal is to promote the idea that exercise is just as important as medication, bracing, etc. for the health and well-being of the patient. Patients are encouraged to ask their physicians more questions pertaining to exercise, and physicians are encouraged to assess patients’ ability to do exercise and write an exercise prescription for them or refer them to a fitness professional.  For too long, physicians tell their patients to “exercise more” without really giving them guidelines about WHAT to do or HOW to do it.  PublicActionGuideLQ gives a great starting point for patients to start the dialogue with their physicians (see www.exerciseismedicine.org for more information). I encourage you to become proactive this month and get a new kind of prescription from your physician, one that will benefit you in multiple ways for the rest of your life!

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but instead will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease”

                                                                             -Thomas Edison

Happiness and good health!