Regular physical exercise reduces depression and anxiety among lung disease patients: Study

A study has found that regular physical exercises can help in reducing risk of depression and anxiety among patients with lung disease. A group of lung disease which block airflow and make breathing difficult is termed as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

The study said that the chance of depression and anxiety rises up to 40 percent among the patients suffering from COPD whereas the figure remains below 10 percent in the general population.

Milo Puhan from University of Zurich, Switzerland said that those COPD patients who perform more physical activities develop less anxiety or depression over time. 

The researchers suggested that in COPD patients, regular physical activities is necessary to lower the risk of mental disorders.

Contrarily, no physical activities or low physical activities increases the risk of cardiovascular, neurological, hormonal, cancer and infectious diseases in patients with COPD.

For study, the team included 409 patients from primary care practice in the Netherlands and Switzerland.