Get physical

WHILE it’s long been known that physical activity massively reduces the risk of developing certain diseases, a major new study suggests exercise may also be as effective as drugs at treating conditions like heart disease and stroke.

Although people who suffer from such illnesses shouldn’t just throw their tablets away, the implication is that regular exercise should be as important a part of their treatment regime as medication.

The new study, by researchers at the London School of Economics, Harvard Medical School and Stanford University School of Medicine, analysed the results of 305 trials involving nearly 340,000 people. It found being active was just as good as medicine for those with existing heart disease, and in the prevention of diabetes, and a more effective treatment than drugs for people who’d suffered a stroke.