Exercise Effects on IBD

So as I mentioned in class, I was interested in finding further information on the effects of exercise (in particular, anaerobic or higher resistance training) on IBD. While I could not find any specific articles about reistance training and IBD, I did come across a few articles that were interesting:

This first article (link to summary: http://www.nature.com/ajg/journal/v94/n3/abs/ajg1999153a.html) discusses how low intesnity exercises are beneficial for IBD patients. These patients simply did walking routines 3/day for 12 weeks, and they found that it improved the morbidity in these patients. What I find interesting in what
There (I could not find a link to the full pdf, so this may be mentioned somewhere in the full article) was no information on higher intensity exercise, and why it would not also be beneficial, or detrimental, to the patient's health.

When I read the paper the first time through, I assumed that this was intended for sedentary patients with moderate to severe CD, but the study was actually done on subjects with low to non active CD. It would be very interesting to know how more moderate exercise would effect their symptoms, if at all.

This next article (link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2660805/?tool=pubmed) was very interesting, because it talked about different types of exercises and different studies done comparing exercise and IBD. One thing I didn't think about was the relationship between stress, exercise, and IBD. This paper brings up the point that exercise helps to lower stress levels. Since stress is considered a contributor to IBD, this paper theorized that this was one way in which exercise contributed.

Another interesting point this article brought up was that CD is linked to muscle deterioration in the lower limbs, but not the upper limbs. Based off of this, I think it is safe to say mild to moderate resistance training can be beneficial in patients suffering from CD, or are at risk for it.

The paper goes on to say in the summary (this was also mentioned at the beginning) that many of the clinical studies used to conclude that exercise is beneficial were too limited in their parameters, and more work needs to be done to conclude this. The authors of the paper believe that while exercise is good for treating symptoms of IBD, it does not alter the course of the disease.

If you have a chance, read this- it is a good read, even though it is basically just bringing in other papers to put together its information.