Regular exercise, stress can both make a big difference in lupus, study finds
But research in mice and a related pilot study in humans are showing how regular activity and stress reduction could lead to better health in the long run. In the mouse model of lupus, researchers from The Ohio State University found that moderate exercise (45 minutes of treadmill walking per day) significantly decreased inflammatory damage to the kidneys. While 88 percent of non-exercised mice had severe damage, only 45 percent of the treadmill-exercised animals did. And the researchers think they know why: Several biomarkers known to drive inflammation plummeted in the exercise group. To take the research a step further, the team wanted to see what happened to those same biomarkers in lupus mice exposed to a well-established animal model of repeated social disruption known to induce psychological stress -- in particular, daily encounters with a stronger "bully" mouse. The results were almost exactly the opposite -- the inflammatory markers shot up, which caused s...