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When lifestyle doesn't impact chronic disease

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  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    jesslla wrote: »
    I did three months of purposeful exercise after that, still no difference in my moods. I make myself exercise to get more calories to eat and to improve my cardiovascular health, but it doesn't seem to do a thing for my mental health.

    One of the issues in this space is that both mental health and exercise cover a broad range, and broad brush advice is pretty meaningless. To me it becomes a question of what one is getting from the activity, and appropriateness to personality and the condition in question. It's known that physiological effects have a causal relationship with psychological outcomes, but it's not that simple.

    Personally I'm very introverted, so classes are anathema to me. I respond best to something that is almost meditative; running, cycling and swimming. Part of that is the environmental stimuli, being out on the trail.

    One of the reasons I find resistance training dull is the persistent stop/ start nature and periods of doing nothing between sets. I mitigate that by finding a form of resistance training that is outdoors; TRX out in the forest. Other people are motivated in other ways. Some find running boring because of the very same characteristics that make it quite meditative.

    Some of this also relates to what else contributes to the condition. Is depression the chronic condition, or is it a symptom of something else?

    Part of the problem is that the advice is bland; do some exercise. It doesn't get into the second and third order of what's appropriate and going to have the desired physiological and psychological effects.
  • EatingAndKnitting
    EatingAndKnitting Posts: 531 Member
    amandaeve wrote: »
    jesslla wrote: »
    Do you count mental illnesses as chronic disease? Everyone crows about how wonderful exercise is for treating depression, but for me personally (bipolar I, mostly depression) exercise does nothing to improve my mood. The only thing that works for my mood is medication.

    I worked for a year and a half in retail, walking constantly for hours a time, never standing in one place for more than a couple minutes. For me, that was exercise, because I'm typically quite sedentary. (This was before my arthritis in my knee got so bad and before I started MFP).

    I had a mixed episode (manic and depressed at the same time, I was sucidial and went into a mental hospital for a week, mixed episodes are very dangerous because the mania gives you the energy to actually go through with suicide) and quit my job.

    I did three months of purposeful exercise after that, still no difference in my moods. I make myself exercise to get more calories to eat and to improve my cardiovascular health, but it doesn't seem to do a thing for my mental health.

    @jessilla mental illness totally counts. I remember hearing that the mood-boosting effect of exercise is also genetic. One of those mail-in genetic tests advertised that they tested for it. I thought that was silly, as I am clearly boosted by activity, don't need a test to confirm that one. You probably just don't have the gene. A lot of people around me have a mood affect from daylight/vitamin D, of which I have none. I can get as depressed as the best of them, but not from darkness. If there's any chance for exercise to help you, I would check first to make sure it's an activity you find fun in the first place (or found fun when not depressed). I hated working retail, sure I burned lots of calories, but I also came home exhausted and stressed.

    I loved my retail job. It was at a plus size store and I loved making women feel good about themselves. I had a blast at work. I hated pushing credit cards on everyone and my bad knee couldn't take the strain though. If it wasn't for the knee I'd have gone back after the stint in the mental hospital. Stupid knee.

    I did one of those genetic tests. It said I should be average weight (I'm not, yet), don't have a cleft chin (I do), don't have dimples (i have a small one appearing as I lose weight). Sometimes I think they guess. I'll go look and see if they say anything about exercise though, other than I should gain muscle like an athlete (no idea).

    I do get depressed from not enough vitamin d. I supplement, even though I live in Texas where it's sunny 99% of the year. It's also over 80F for 90% of the year. I'm too insulated to deal with the heat. I hope I start getting cold when I lose weight! It'll make summer (April through November) bearable! ;)

    I have a stationary bike that I like to ride. I try to ride it daily for about thirty minutes at a time. I'm more successful some weeks than others. :)
  • amandaeve
    amandaeve Posts: 723 Member
    @jesslla - Ha! Those genetic tests are as silly as I feared!

    @dragthewaters1991 - good job on defeating the depression, and finding what works best for you! That is no easy task. :)
  • amandaeve
    amandaeve Posts: 723 Member
    PamLiftsStuff wrote: »
    The definition of high blood pressure has changed several times over the years. I suspect the only reason is that Big Pharma wants to make even more money from their garbage. I don't know my blood pressure and I don't care. It's also no one else's business. I seriously doubt it will kill me even if it is "high".

    Have you read Vitamania? I totally agree that Big Pharma is driven to profit, which means making expensive ego-serving drugs for the anxious privileged class (hair loss, low libido, sleeping pills, performance enhancers) while ignoring disease with low profit potential (tuberculosis, malaria). However, hypertension is one exception (this is where my agreement with Vitamania diverges). The dropping numbers for diagnosis is suspicious, but is directly related to improved disease prevention.

    My whole (large) family has heart issues. When my family immigrated (that's as far back as I know history for), all the men died of heart attacks by age 40 and the women died of stroke a little older. The next generation lived longer, with surgery and some medication, but all died before 60. The next generation, my father's, had more access to blood pressure medication. Some haven't had any heart attacks or strokes at all, and those that did are still alive after age 60. My generation has all been medicated since being diagnosed with hypertension, and no one has yet to have a heart attack or stroke. There are 4 who "should have" by now given our clear, predictable family history.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    PamLiftsStuff wrote: »
    The definition of high blood pressure has changed several times over the years. I suspect the only reason is that Big Pharma wants to make even more money from their garbage. I don't know my blood pressure and I don't care. It's also no one else's business. I seriously doubt it will kill me even if it is "high".

    My blood pressure medication costs $1.15/month. It's cheaper than my insurance's minimum copay. I hope Big Pharma didn't spend it all in one place :huh:

    Did it occur to you that perhaps recommendations change due to new, better, more comprehensive studies about the risks and benefits of certain conditions and therapies?
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,301 Member
    To the person above who has cholesterol issues. The body is perfectly capable of making cholesterol if it thinks it needs it. Cholesterol is required for several essential functions. There can be an imbalance in the endocrine system which can cause over production. (I'm only a reader interested in medical issues usually keeping to medical papers.)

    Also, anyone with severe digestive issues. You may find it helpful to read up on Histamine Intolerance. This can underpin IBS and other similar issues. Most of the work relating to HIT is very recent, mostly 2005 onwards.

    All the best.
  • Bekah7482
    Bekah7482 Posts: 246 Member
    Of course there are out liars. My entire family on my mothers side has high cholesterol. They all developed it in their 30's. My mom and grandpa changed their diet and lifestyle, my aunt and uncle didn't but all their cholesterol stayed the same. They tried to take my mom and grandpa off medication but their bodies cannot naturally control their cholesterol levels no matter how healthy their lifestyle is. They will have to be medicated for the rest of their life.

    My brother and I get our cholesterol watch closely. I have had perfect cholesterol my whole life, even when at normal and super high BMI, but I know that it is a hereditary condition that I could have without me having any control over it.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    amandaeve wrote: »
    Are there studies on those with chronic disease for whom lifestyle makes no difference? We all know that person who didn’t fit the data, but I can’t find data as to percentage of the population who are outliers. Are you one of those people? I am curious how many other people are out there like me. The only influence my doctors can attribute to my hypertension is heredity; lifestyle choices make no difference- but none of them can tell me how common that is.

    I don't know about any studies on it specifically, but I know of a couple conditions that are known for specific illness or conditions, but you pretty much have to search for info. on them specifically to find the info, and it never comes up outside these conditions that I've seen.

    for example, low vitamin D issues with auto-immune disorders - really doesn't matter what some folks with these do, Vitamin D remains low (some doctors try to suggest a low vitamin D causation, but from what I've seen, it's all correlation). If you are looking for studies, you could look up certain chronic conditions (high cholesterol, heart disease, whatever), and then various diseases, like celiac disease, auto immune disease, lupus, MS, something like that. Wouldn't be surprised if you could track down something.
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