It's no secret that many people don't exercise, even though they know they should. (Not you of course- but maybe someone you know.) Recent studies show that a written prescription for exercise from a doctor might just help motivate people to get off the couch and start moving!


Professor Miriam Morey led the most recent study on prescribing exercise, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. She focused on cancer survivors like Joe Collie, who had surgery for prostate cancer. "The operation was in July of '93, so it's been 16 years since I had that procedure," explains Collie.


Collie and more than 600 other cancer survivors went on diets and exercise programs tailored to their needs. They also spoke with counselors over the telephone on a regular basis.


After 12 months, researchers were surprised to find that those who participated in the diet and exercise program increased their physical activity, lost weight and reported less physical decline than those in a control group.


Professor Morey says the study's results should help change patient care. "We can deliver this intervention to your home. You don't have to go anywhere. You can be on a mountaintop living by yourself, or in another country, and we can deliver this intervention," she said.


Professor Loretta DiPietro heads George Washington University's Department of Exercise Science. She says she was not surprised by the results of Morey's study. "We've been working with physicians for years and years to get them to discuss exercise with their patients," DiPietro states.


She says it is easier to prevent disease with exercise than it is to use exercise as part of treatment after the illness is diagnosed.


"Exercise has its greatest benefits on the prevention end of the equation," PiPietro adds. "It's much more effective in preventing excessive weight gain or excessive rises in blood sugar and cholesterol."


But she also says different exercises can help people with different diseases. For example, people at risk for osteoporosis benefit from weight bearing exercise. People with high blood sugar benefit the most when they exercise after a meal.


And Professor Morey says her study proves that cancer survivors suffer less decline in mobility when they get exercise tailored to their needs.


Joe Collie sums it up like this: "You've got to be able to get up and move around."


Researchers are not only discovering which exercises are best, but how often, how intense and how much time per week exercises should be done to maximize the benefit.


But you don't have to wait while they figure out all the details, which would be like waiting for a study to show that water puts out fire.


Exercise is the single best predictor of good health outcomes that I know of. It almost doesn't matter what you do-- just do something. In my book, The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth I had to give "exercise" a special place simply because I was unable to find any "treatment" or "intervention" or "supplement" or "diet" that had as far-ranging and profound effects on human health and longevity.


Great if doctors start "prescribing" this info for their patients, just as other health professionals have been doing for decades.


Even better if we start listening to them!