THURSDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- A session of moderate
aerobic exercise can help reduce anxiety and improve the quality of
sleep for insomnia patients, according to a Brazilian study. Heavy
aerobic or moderate strength exercises don't have the same
effect.
Researchers at the Federal University of Sao Paulo divided 28
women and eight men with primary chronic insomnia into three
exercise groups -- moderate aerobic, heavy aerobic, and moderate
strength -- and one control group.
After the exercise session, those who did moderate aerobic
exercise showed reductions in sleep onset latency (54 percent) and
wake time (36 percent) and increases in total sleep time (21
percent) and sleep efficiency (18 percent). They also showed a 7
percent decrease in anxiety.
"These findings indicate that there is a way to diminish the
symptoms of insomnia without using medication," study author
Giselle S. Passos said in a prepared statement.
"This is the first study to look at the importance of using
physical exercise to treat insomnia and may contribute to increased
quality of life in people with one of the most important kind of
sleep disorders around the world," Passos said.
The findings were presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of
the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, in Baltimore.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about
insomnia.
