Exercise and Chronic Disease

Chronic disease refers to those health problems continuing or reoccurring for a long time. In addition to the commonly discussed chronic disease, chronic diseases in this Research Topic include mental diseases, substance abuse, visual impairment, developmental disorders, advancing age-related degradations, and other chronic health problems. Unlike acute illnesses, chronic diseases are not easily diagnosed before clinical symptoms and are hard to manage. Early prevention by identifying the potential risk factors and applying the proper interventions would have tremendous meaning to chronic disease management and treatment. To date, exercise has been acknowledged as an active and efficient way to prevent and treat a variety of chronic diseases. However, disputes exist in the current evidence, including but not limited to the lack of rationales in exercise program design, improper implementation of intervention without following basic training principles, and conflicting opinions towards the optimal exercise prescriptions for different chronic conditions, to name a few. Some of these questions may stay hard to answer, but we look forward to new perspectives, advanced methods/measures, innovative findings, and exploratory solutions to understand exercise therapy in chronic disease management and health promotion.

This Research Topic aims to broaden the knowledge of exercise efficacy in chronic illness management and deepen the discussions on exercise mechanisms in health promotion. Therefore, we welcome significant original investigations, comprehensive reviews, case studies, and short communications on exercise and chronic disease. Submissions from authors in different research areas are well welcomed to advance the knowledge and practical implications of exercise and chronic disease.

Some potential themes of interest for this Research Topic include, but are not limited to:

• The acute and long-term effects of exercise on cognitive function among clinical populations such as diabetic patients, individuals with substance use disorders, and older adults.
• The mediate factors help explain the relations between physical activity/exercise and respiratory function.
• Innovative exercise interventions/prescriptions for chronic conditions.
• The potential underlying mechanisms of traditional exercise (e.g., Tai Chi, Taekwondo, Yoga) in health promotion.
• Updated reviews on exercise efficacy in visual impairments, substance abuse, mental health, etc.
• Exercise evidence in chronic disease management: from research to practice.
• Risk factors with frailty, functional decline, and aging-related degradations among older adults.