Exercise Can Benefit ICU Patients

While one might not think of exercise as something to undertake while bedridden in a hospital, new research is suggesting otherwise. An article on Ivanhoe.com entitled, "In-Hospital Exercise Benefits ICU Patients", refers to a study by the Johns Hopkins and the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in which they look at the effects of small to moderate bits of exercise on patients in intensive care units.

According to the study, the amount of "drowsiness-inducing benzodiazepines" -- basically sedatives to help ease a patient's pain -- declined from fifty percent just before the study began to about twenty-six percent after patients thirty to forty-five minutes exercising each day. According to the study, regular exercise with a physical therapist also reduced the amount of time patients spent in the ICU ward of the hospital.

Apparently patients used arm and leg exercises with physical trainers while still staying in bed, sitting up or standing during the study. The benefits of the "mobilization exercises" were clear to researchers. Lead author Dale Needham, M.D., Ph.D. says "Our work challenges physicians to rethink how they treat critically ill patients and shows the downstream benefits of early mobilization exercises."

As one can see, there are even more benefits to exercise than just keeping fit. For overall health and well being the affects are obvious, but lately we've seen studies proving its beneficial effects on both mental health and now recuperation.