Exercise Is Medicine

“If exercise could be packed in a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the nation.” This quote attributed to Robert Butler, MD, made in 1980, is as true now as it was then.

Butler was a pioneer in studying aging and a founding director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In 1975, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his book Why Survive? Being Old in America. In it he wrote, “In America, childhood is romanticized, youth is idolized, middle age does the work, wields the power, and pays the bills, and old age, its days empty of purpose, gets little or nothing of what it has already done. The old are in the way.” Well, that doesn’t sound like much fun. Luckily, from those early beginnings 50 years ago, the field of healthy aging has undergone profound change. As a larger number and percentage of Americans transition into their golden years, it is vital that the healthcare profession promotes healthy, sustainable lifestyles. Importantly, exercise and lifestyle habits in our earlier years can have a profound impact on our health in later years.