Exercise Helps Smokers Quit and Eases Panic Disorder, Studies Find
Two studies show exercise benefits mental health: one finds exercise programs help smokers quit and reduce cravings for up to 30 minutes; another finds high-intensity exercise outperforms relaxation techniques for panic disorder relief.
Exercise can boost a smoker's odds of successfully quitting, and brief, intense exercise may be superior to relaxation techniques for treating panic disorder, according to two separate studies.
Smokers taking part in exercise programs were more likely to either quit or cut back on cigarettes, researchers reported in the Journal of Sport and Health Science. In fact, a single bout of exercise immediately reduces nicotine cravings for up to a half hour afterward.
For their review, researchers analyzed the results of 59 previous clinical trials that examined the benefits of exercise when trying to quit smoking, involving more than 9,000 people. Results showed that people in an exercise program were 21% more likely to report not smoking over a seven-day period, and 15% more likely to quit completely. The evidence also showed that exercise reduced smoking by about two cigarettes a day and could be used to derail a nicotine fit.
"Quitting smoking does not have to begin and end with willpower alone," senior author Carol Maher, a research professor of population and digital health at Adelaide University, said in a news release. "Cravings can be difficult to manage, but they often pass. Our review found that even a single bout of exercise can reduce cravings for up to 30 minutes, which may help people get through some of the hardest moments of a quit attempt."
However, researchers warned that exercise should not be used in lieu of smoking cessation programs or medications that help reduce tobacco cravings. Researchers next plan to test how exercise might be incorporated into real-world quit programs, and to see if exercise also might support people trying to quit vaping.
In a separate study published Feb. 8 in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, researchers from the University of São Paulo Medical School in Brazil found that brief, intermittent bouts of high-intensity exercise were significantly more effective at reducing the severity and frequency of panic attacks than standard relaxation techniques.
For people living with panic disorder, the sensation of a racing heart or shortness of breath can feel like a life-threatening emergency. These frequent and unexpected panic attacks affect roughly 2.7% of the U.S. population. The current gold standard for treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which uses a technique called interoceptive exposure — intentionally triggering physical symptoms in a controlled environment to show the brain they are harmless.
This study suggests that a 12-week program of intense exercise is a more natural and effective way to achieve the same goal. For the trial, 102 adults were split into two groups. One group practiced progressive muscle relaxation, while the other engaged in exercise sessions consisting of 15 minutes of walking followed by several 30-second high-intensity sprints, recovery periods and then walking. None were taking medications for panic disorder.
At six months, the exercise group showed much steeper declines in panic symptoms, anxiety and depression. Because the exercise group reported enjoying the sessions more than the relaxation group, researchers think those patients are more likely to stay committed to exercise treatment long-term.