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Lack of exercise 'a medical condition'
August 17, 2012
A US expert believes doctors should regard lack of exercise as a medical condition in its own right.
A sedentary lifestyle should be treated as a medical condition, a US expert has said.
People who fail to do enough exercise are known to face an increased risk of obesity, type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure and joint damage.
Dr Michael Joyner, a physiologist at Mayo Clinic in the US, described physical inactivity as the "root cause" of these conditions and suggested it should be viewed as a medical condition in its own right.
He claimed: "If we were to medicalise it, we could then develop a way - just like we've done for addiction, cigarettes and other things - to give people treatments, and lifelong treatments that focus on behavioural modifications and physical activity.
"And then we can take public health measures, like we did for smoking, drunken driving and other things, to limit physical inactivity and promote physical activity."
Writing in the Journal of Physiology, Dr Joyner argued that by treating lack of exercise as a condition, doctors would be more likely to prescribe physical activity.
This could help to treat conditions such as obesity and high blood pressure, while preventing the onset of chronic illnesses in the future.
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