Chemical Exercise

    People who exercise have always been healthier than people who don’t. The increasingly prevalent sedentary lifestyle of the modern human being has contributed to a rise in not only obesity, but heart disease, diabetes, and possibly Alzheimer’s disease. Exercise has definitely shown positive benefits for an individuals health, but a recent discovery has changed the way researchers think of exercise.

    Spiegelman and his colleagues found that exercise triggers a cascade of second messenger proteins and one interesting one they found they called irisin. Irisin is believed to carry messages to fat cells, causing them to change to higher caloric burning cells, and causes the body to become more sensitive to glucose. Spiegelman also found that injections of irisin over the course of ten weeks into pre-diabetic, obese mice caused them to shed a little weight and have more normal blood glucose levels (Courage). People who exercise more frequently tend to have higher levels of blood irisin and this is correlated with improved health. The implications for this one hormone range from fighting obesity to helping diabetics control their symptoms. Regular exercise should not be replaced by hormone injections, but if the two are used in tandem, they could serve as an effective treatment for severe obesity and even possibly an alternative to regular insulin injections. While the positive physical effects of exercise are irrefutable, exercise is also correlated with improved mental cognition.

    Dr. Art Kramer is one of the leading researchers on exercise and aging effects. He has recently been studying the effects of exercise on cognition as humans age. His research includes experiments with rats, observations of extreme human cases, and even an experimental video game. Kramer has found that even providing a wheel in the cage of a rat, giving the option for leisurely exercise, increases the rats’ synaptogenesis, creation of synapses in the brain, increased angiogenesis, capillary creation, and synthesis of neurotransmitters. He has also found that elderly patients who exercise tend to be able to live on their own longer and avoid nursing homes. An interesting case, Olga Kotelko who at the time was 93 and still exercising and competing in competitions for track and field, showed Kramer that even at such an advanced age, her white matter count was similar to a 60 year old’s. Exercising didn’t only show that it affected brain degeneration overtime, but also attention and alertness as young as elementary school.

    Kramer designed an experimental video game where participants would cross a virtual street on a treadmill. Sometimes they were simply crossing the street and other times they were talking on the phone while crossing the street. He found that children who were fatter tended to be “hit by cars” while crossing the street more frequently than the more in shape children and actually was seen in adults as well. This experiment shows that, cognitively, children who exercise and are more in shape are more alert and aware of their surroundings. This cognitive advantage is most likely due to an increased amount of physical activity.

    Exercise is definitely something that should not be taken for granted. At any age, exercise can improve health, decrease risk of diabetes, and increase cognitive ability. With so many advantages to regular exercise it is very interesting that only five of the fifty states in the U.S. require physical education from kindergarten through high school in public schools.

Works Cited

Courage, Katherine H. "Newly Discovered Hormone Boosts Effects of Exercise, Could Help Fend Off Diabetes." Scientificamerican.com. Scientific American, 11 Jan. 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.