Nearly 150 participants gathered at the Royal Society of Medicine in London for the second annual exercise medicine conference on 20 and 21 June, sponsored by Technogym. The conference was introduced by Dr Mike Loosemore, Lead Consultant in Sport and Exercise Medicine at the ISEH and Lead Sports Physician for the South of England at the English Institute for Sport.
Two days of fascinating presentations and lively discussion followed. Day one covered the latest scientific, technological and commercial advances in the area, with day two focusing on how individuals and communities can be encouraged to exercise more. This summary focuses on the emerging scientific – and increasingly compelling – evidence presented by speakers on the first morning of the conference.
The keynote speech from Dr William Bird, CEO, Intelligent Health, highlighted physical inactivity as a worldwide problem, which leads to more deaths from many common diseases and is more dangerous than the direct effects of either smoking or obesity. By encouraging the build-up of visceral fat, inactivity causes inflammation that can lead to the production of ‘free radicals’ that lead to cell degeneration. This in turn can lead to a range of non-communicable diseases including Type 2 diabetes, depression, dementia and certain cancers.
Exercise and epigenetics – encouraging cellular health
In a session introduced by Professor Greg Whyte OBE from Liverpool John Moores University, a number of speakers highlighted research in the field of epigenetics that improves our understanding of why exercise is important to health. Alongside regular genes, which are ‘hardwired’, epigenes activate chemical controls that switch genes on and off; some of these can affect both the occurrence and timing of certain non-communicable diseases, and the effects of ageing more generally. Of our approximately 25,000 genes, it is believed that 387 are affected by exercise, suggesting that there is considerable scope for exercise to positively influence our health.
Certain life stages, including pre-birth, early life and adolescence, offer greater potential for epigenetic activity. This suggests that along with maternal health, exercise in children and young people is important in reducing the occurrence in later life of many non-communicable diseases.
Can we outrun the fork?
Dr Yoni Freedhoff, University of Ottowa, spoke of the need for caution in associating exercise with weight loss. Many studies have shown that, while the health benefits of exercise were clear, it led to only marginal weight loss: in Dr Freedhoff’s words “we can’t outrun the fork”, diet is generally the best way to lose weight. This means that motivating people to exercise in order to lose weight may be likely to fail, and medical professionals should emphasise to patients the other benefits of exercise, such as improved health and wellbeing.
Read our interview with Mike Loosemore on the ISEH’s role in promoting the health benefits of exercise.
Read highlights of day one (part two)