(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Women who suffer from a painful condition called fibromyalgia might be able to ease their symptoms by simply getting up and getting moving.

In a new study, researchers found women who participated in regular exercise were more likely to report improvements in areas like social functioning, mental health, fatigue, and depression. They were also more likely to gain a greater sense of self-worth.

The investigation involved about 200 women who were assigned to one of four groups: one group took part in daily aerobic and flexibility exercises, one did those exercises plus strength training, another participated only in a self-help course on managing the condition, and another took the course and participated in all of the exercises.

All of the women were taking medication to treat fibromyalgia, which is characterized by chronic pain throughout the body that lasts for three months or longer.

Women in all the exercise groups had better outcomes than women in the self-help group alone, but the best results were seen in women who both took the self-help course and did all of the exercises.

The benefits were long-lasting too. At a six month follow-up, women were still reaping the advantages they gained through the program.

“Our findings suggest the need for inclusion of appropriate exercise and patient education in the treatment of individuals with fibromyalgia,�?write the authors.

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 SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007;167:2192-2200