PADUA – Physical activity in the treatment of patients suffering from obesity is another theme brought to the attention during the Congress of the European Initiative for Exercise in Medicine (EIEIM) currently underway in Padua. The event is organized by Exercise is Medicine – EIM®️ Italy, under the aegis of the Department of Medicine, in collaboration with Motor Health. In patients suffering from obesity, training has many benefits in addition to weight loss, such as reducing cardiometabolic risk and improving eating behavior. Nutrition Professor Jean-Michel Oppert, of the Pierre et Marie Curie University of Paris, stressed that a standardized exercise recommendation is not enough: “The specific objectives of the exercise prescription must be defined for each patient suffering from obesity with a personalized approach ”he explained.
Regarding the barriers to regular physical activity for obesity patients, Professor Jean-Michel Oppert explains that there are many causes. “They are physiological, individual and environmental causes. Physiological causes relate to low functional capacity or comorbidities and therefore to overcome them we must consider comorbidities and make an adapted exercise prescription with a very slow progression. With regard to individual barriers, for example negative experiences related to physical activity, in this case we must be very careful about the stigmatization of the pathology of obesity. Finally, environmental barriers are lack of time, difficulty in accessing the facilities, so we must work to equip sports facilities and gyms so that they can also accommodate these patients “.
This broad clinical overview was continued with the researcher of the University of Padua, Daniel Neunhaeuserer, with a focus on the possible supplementation of oxygen to avoid dyspnea in the pulmonary rehabilitation of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“Exercise therapy is certainly a very effective treatment in this population. The problem is that patients often have to stop very early during exercise due to shortness of breath which sometimes prevents cardiovascular, metabolic and muscular adaptation to exercise. For this reason, doctors are trying to find solutions to bypass these ventilatory limitations, and one of the possibilities could be supplementation with oxygen during physical exercise ”.
Professor Josep Niebauer, Director of the Institute of Sports Medicine, Prevention and Rehabilitation of the University of Salzburg, concluded the session with an analysis of the specific benefits of aerobic and strength training, defining how both should be “part integral to cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation for life “. “I think that even doctors – continues Professor Niebauer – are understanding that physical exercise is part of the therapy. Despite being in the guidelines in clinical practice, it has not yet become routine. However, I think everyone has finally understood that physical exercise is part of the therapy as the guidelines have been saying for some time and I believe it will soon enter the clinical routine ”.
The European Initiative for Exercise in Medicine (EIEIM) is a partner of Exercise is Medicine (EIM), the global health initiative managed by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) that aims to make the assessment and promotion of physical activity a standard in healthcare.
Exercise is Medicine is committed to promoting sport for maintaining optimal health, considering it an integral part in the prevention and treatment of many medical conditions. The event, which is part of the celebrations for the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Padua, is mainly (but not exclusively) aimed at medical professionals in the health sector and kinesiologists.
