Doctors Trained to Prescribe Drugs, but not Exercise

Doctors Trained to Prescribe Drugs, but not Exercise

Various studies show that most western doctors are not trained or do not the incentives to prescribe exercise to their patients. Yet, they should regularly prescribe it as a way to lower blood pressure and prevent heart disease and diabetes, according to the American Heart Association on Monday June 23, 2003.

Exercise often works well as drugs, yet doctors fail to advise patients to get off their sofas and walk, cycle or run, the group said, citing data from 44 different studies. The American Heart Association and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among other groups, recommend 30 minutes or more of the moderate exercise such as brisk walking on most or all days of the week.

One problem is that doctors are not trained in preventing disease, but only in treating it, said the director of preventive cardiology and cardiovascular research at Hartford Hospital in connecticut, who led the study leading to this report.

"That is not the whole story here because a lot of stuff we are talking about here is not about prevention -it is about sick patients and making people feel better. Doctors do not urge exercise because they are not reimbursed by insurers for exercise training. And drug companies spend millions to promote medicines and train doctors in their use, but no one does the same thing for exercise."

Physicians can help patients improve cholesterol levels and blood pressure just by prescribing an exercise regimen.