It's pretty well known that a good number of people in our class are fitness junkies. Some swim, some run, and some bike. But regardless as to what form of exercise we commit ourselves to, we all know that working out does our body and physical health a lot of good. It helps relieve stress, make us feel good, keep the pounds off, and ward off undesirable diseases and disorders. But keeping up with your physical health can become incredibly difficult when you're diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. "Abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, lack of energy, and sudden bathroom urges" come hand in hand with IBD after all and these symptoms are often exacerbated due to the force and impact given off from certain exercises.
And what's worse is that the medications that are meant to control Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease also cause problems themselves; some cause IBD diagnosed individuals to gain weight, feel lethargic and out of energy. So always feeling the need to go to the bathroom coupled with the medications' side effects makes working out and staying in shape all the more challenging.
It's not impossible though. In the article that I've been going through, it lists off many different exercising tips and the first one that it mentions is To Minimize Impact which makes sense. The less impact you're putting your body under, the less likely you'll find yourself needing to rush to the bathroom. So running is probably a no-go while yoga and swimming would be very beneficial!
But overall, I think that it's all about how motivated we are in wanting to stay healthy no matter what form of fitness we decide to undertake. Neal Patel, a man in this article, was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and gained 30 pounds due to the medicine he was taking. But with time and consistent exercise, he was able to lose 15 pounds! So as I've said before, it's all about how much you're willing to invest into your health regardless of the circumstances and disadvantages.
Feature, Bill Hendrick WebMD. "Exercising When You Have IBD, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn's Disease." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
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ReplyDeleteHi Sydney, really great take on ways to stay healthy despite IBD! One thing I really wished we had addressed more in class was indeed exercise. I thought: "If working out increases your metabolism, shouldn't it be beneficial to IBD? You get to absorb nutrients through your food quicker, so even though the symptoms of IBD may still be present, at least you're getting more nutrition." However, I failed to see that different types of exercise, such as high impact sports, might actually exacerbate the symptoms by jostling the small intestine and large intestines. Great insight into managing health while being afflicted with IBD.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was an interesting take on some of the issues that can come with IBD. While someone who might be uninclined to exercise due to their symptoms and treatment with IBD your point emphasized the importance of making that extra effort for your health. To often do many people become victim to their ailments and use their sickness and disease as an excuse to not be physically fit. With exercise being such an important factor in overall health, I like that you and this article provided other possible options like yoga and swimming as alternatives to a proactive lifestyle.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing this article! It goes really well with how our society is today and how important physical activity is (and health in general). Even with just having a debilitating disease like IBD, its really encouraging to know that there are people out there that strive to still have active lives while trying to overcome harsh side effects from the disease and even the medication. Like Amy pointed out above, people do use their ailments as scapegoats and live a sedentary lifestyle, but when you hear stories like Neils, it makes me want to work harder and be more physically active because I have no excuse not to! Thanks for the motivation of the week.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with John and Amy, it is great that there are exercise options for people with IBD. When I was reading the symptoms, I also thought about seniors and some of the other metabolic diseases (like hypothyroidism where you also feel fatigued and have the weight gain), and how these exercises would also be great for them so as to minimize the impact.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this article. It's safe to say that we can all agree that exercise is important whether it is from a nutritional or physiological background; the benefits are endless. One concept that is continuously discussed in class (especially when reading the lay articles) is the "quick fixes" and people wanting results without putting in the work. While I can't fathom being on a medication that would cause such a dramatic change to my body and lifestyle, it is quite refreshing that there are physical activities that can help alleviate some of the weight gain induced by this medication. I'm sure that when a patient discovers they suffer from IBD all they hear of is the negative consequences but this article is great information to give people some hope that they can live a similar life to the one had before the disease and the its accompanying medication.
ReplyDeleteHey Sydney! Great post, you brought to my attention one of the side effects of Inflammatory Bowel Disease that was not initially obvious to me. It is interesting that one of the symptoms or effects of IBD is weight loss however IBD patients have reported gaining weight, however as you stated this can be due to medication or regular exercise suddenly stopping. I am surprised that the effect that IBD has on a patients ability to exercise is not a more commonly discussed or addressed issue, as numerous cultures put a focus on regular exercise and achieving a healthy lifestyle. Perhaps the IBD patients experiencing a sedentary lifestyle and weight gain, as discussed above, could have a correlation with smoking or high sugar contributing to IBD, as discussed in class on Monday
ReplyDeleteHello Sydney, it is curious how sometimes exercise can actually make a situation worse, like I learned in cardiology a few semesters back, the impact involved in running can actually lead to anemia through erythrocyte destruction in the joints. For some reason that stuck with me, as I'm sure the link between high impact sports and IBD will stick as well. fortunately there are many alternatives for aerobic exercise that don't necessarily involve running or other impact sports.
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