Australia : Ironing out the Wrinkles of Elderly Depression

By Leigh Dayton, the Australian

April 16, 2004

When 60-year-old Paavo Komi dropped by the gym to pump some iron, he had no idea he was following a prescription proven to lift the spirits of elderly athletes.

"Why do I exercise? Ask my parents,"joked Professor Komi, director of neuromuscular research at Finland 's University of Jyeaskyla .

Professor Komi - in Brisbane for the the Australian Association of Exercise and Sports Science conference - was impressed by a study showing that weightlifting can cut depression by 50 per cent for older people.

That's on par with conventional drug therapy, claims the researcher who did the work, Nalin Singh, a physician and geriatrician at Sydney 's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital .

"(Weightlifting) should be offered as a primary treatment for depression, especially for older people," Dr Singh said yesterday.

According to Dr Singh, 60 per cent of the 60 male and female participants - aged 72 years on average - who "lifted to the max" achieved the 50 per cent reduction in depression levels.

Those who engaged in low-intensity exercise managed only a 30 per cent drop in depression, the same as those who did not lift weights but received standard medical care.

Psychiatrist Ian Hickie, clinical adviser to Beyondblue, the national depression initiative, said the results were "interesting".

If they held up to further scrutiny, Professor Hickie said, Dr Singh's findings could change the way experts advised depressed patients.

"At the moment we're only out there recommending low-intensity exercises," he said. "His research suggests we're not going far enough."

Like Dr Singh, Professor Hickie said it was unclear why power pumping did the trick. But both pointed to other benefits. For instance, weightlifting targets ageing bones and muscles, helping older people avoid falls. It also helps control arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.

"Drug therapy just treats depression, nothing else," said Dr Singh, who has used exercise to treat more than 1000 people at the hospital's Strong Clinic.