Discussion
Significant improvements in subjective health were seen in this study: 11.3% in physical and 9.4% in mental well-being and up to 45% in symptoms linked to depression and anxiety.
Moderate or light exercise can affect body and brain function through various mechanisms: modulation of intestinal hormones[9, 10], corticosteroids[11, 12] or sex steroids[13]; the growth of brain networks by stimulating neurotransmitters and growth factors[14-17] and by acting on the immune system, through levels of cytokines [18-20].
These molecules affect sleep[11, 21, 22], digestion[23, 24] and weight control as well as brain functions such as memory[25], attention[16], cognition[26] and stress control[27]. They also affect susceptibility to illness as well as tiredness, alertness and depression[28].
The moderate exercise prescribed in this study reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety; 24.3% improvement in “worrying too much”, 17% in “trouble relaxing”, 45.6% in “irritability”, 27% in “feeling down, depressed or helpless”. Other results that could be linked to modified hormonal environment were the 22.7% improvement in poor appetite or over-eating, the 21.6% improvement in anhedonia (little interest or pleasure in doing things) and the 12.2% improvement in sleep disturbances.
We conclude that providing dance videos to stimulate moderate-intensity activity with a cognitive challenge could be an inexpensive means to combat preventable chronic disease. This now requires validation by a large-scale study incorporating a control (non-dancing) and an experimental group with the means of measuring actual activity carried out throughout the day for a more accurate evaluation of the efficacy of this type of activity.