title: Exercise as a Polypill for Chronic Diseases.
abstract: Exercise may be described as a polypill to prevent and/or treat almost every chronic disease, with obvious benefits such as its low cost and practical lack of adverse effects. Implementing physical activity interventions in public health is therefore a goal at the medical, social, and economic levels. This chapter describes the importance of health promotion through physical activity and discusses the impacts of exercise on the most prevalent chronic diseases, namely metabolic syndrome-related disorders, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. For each of these chronic conditions, we discuss the epidemiological evidence supporting a beneficial role of exercise, provide guidelines for exercise prescription, and describe the biological mechanisms whereby exercise exerts its modulatory effects.
authors.affiliation: European University and Research Institute of Hospital 12 de Octubre ("i+12"), Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: helios.pareja@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Helios
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pareja-Galeano
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health and Sport Science, University of Zaragoza, Huesca, Spain.
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Garatachea
authors.affiliation: European University and Research Institute of Hospital 12 de Octubre ("i+12"), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lucia
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Cancer; Chronic diseases; Coronary heart disease; Dyslipidemia; Hypertension; Metabolic syndrome; Obesity; Physical activity; Type 2 diabetes