Healing Moves: How to Cure, Relieve, and Prevent Common Ailments with Exercise

The premise of this call for a more physically fit America by a husband-and-wife team (Carol is a science writer and health columnist; Mitchell is a cardiologist) is that exercise is medicine, capable of alleviating ailments ranging from diabetes and osteoporosis to depression and PMS. The Krucoffs connect the rising number of people suffering from cancer, heart disease and various stress-related disorders with the decline of physical activity over the past century. While membership at a health club is now considered a sign of affluence, the Krucoffs report that less than 25 percent of all adults (and an alarmingly low percentage of children) exercise regularly, and only 30 percent of physicians prescribe physical activity for preventative and therapeutic purposes. The result of the authors' research is a volume packed with exercises to get people moving; their aim is to debunk the myth that exercise is hard work and time-consuming. For each ailment, the authors explain how physical activity can alleviate or cure symptoms and prescribe a three-part program that includes specific exercises--such as swimming for arthritis, walking for high blood pressure and yoga for asthma. There are also suggestions on how to incorporate stretching, aerobic activity and strengthening into a program geared toward keeping anyone of any age healthy. Best suited to those whose lives center around desk jobs, car-to-door transport and sedentary pastimes, this book will provide a relatively simple and pleasurable introduction to healing through movement. 150 line drawings. (Apr.)