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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Our genes may impact our mood while we exercise according to a new study. The research used twins and their families to study how voluntary exercise affects anxiety and depressive symptoms.
In the general population, regular exercise is associated with reduced anxious and depressive symptoms. Some small clinical studies have also suggested exercise causes a reduction in depression and anxiety. However, researchers from the Netherlands wanted to see if this causal effect occurs in the larger population or if there is another factor influencing both physical activity and the risk for mood disorders.
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For the study, researchers studied 5,952 twins along with 1,357 additional siblings and 1,249 parents. The participants filled out surveys about leisure-time exercise and completed questions on anxious and depressive symptoms.
Study authors say the associations between leisure-time exercise and anxious and depressive symptoms were small and best explained by a common genetic factor. For example, in identical twins, the twin who exercised more did not display fewer anxious and depressive symptoms than the co-twin who exercised less. However, the same was not true for fraternal twins who share only part of their genetic material.
Authors write, It is unknown which genes may be involved in voluntary exercise behavior and in the risk for anxiety and depression. They add that exercise can still benefit those with anxiety and depression. This study only focused on voluntary leisure-time exercise, therefore monitored or directed exercise may have a different impact on anxiety and depression.
SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry, 2008;65:897-905
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