Progressively increasing the “dose” of physical activity could ensure a better well-being for some patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Researchers from the Queen Mary University of London (United Kingdom) conducted a study on about two hundred individuals affected by this disorder and found a reduction in fatigue. The merit goes to a particular method of physical activity. We talk about this with Dr. Fabio Intelligente, anesthesiologist coordinator of the Pain Management Service for Chronic Pain at Humanitas.
The study
The participants were assigned to two groups. The first was given a physical activity program divided into six phases: the program lasted twelve weeks with increasing training phases. Many patients chose walking: from week to week, the amount of physical activity would have been increased by a maximum of 20%; if, for example, in the first week they had to move for five minutes, in the second one they would have moved for six. In the first eight weeks, the patients of the first group also followed the advices of a physiotherapist who intervened via Skype.
Both groups then benefited from symptomatic therapy for the treatment of the most common symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome such as insomnia or chronic pain. Before and at the end of the twelve weeks, questionnaires were administered to assess the levels of fatigue and physical function of the patients.
The results
It emerged that in the first group, compared to the second one, the general level of fatigue was four points lower and the physical function greater than six (The latter is a data of more statistical than clinical relevance). Approximately one in five patients reported a higher wellbeing, compared to the result of one in twenty in the second group (the first group, however, had more limitations).
The advantages of physical activity in the case of chronic pain are undeniable: ‘As far as possible and according to his health conditions, the patient should spend time doing physical activity within the antalgic therapy, alongside with other measures such as following a balanced diet, supplementation and medication’, recalls Dr. Intelligente.
A fundamental trait for the management of chronic pain has recently emerged in clinical practice and concerns the patient’s involvement in therapy: the empowerment. ‘This study published on Lancet highlights this aspect. Improving patient empowerment means making him more aware, autonomous and responsible of the management of the resources available for the therapy, within appropriate interventions that become more and more effective’, concludes the expert.
