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GREENSBORO — Amy Berrier started walking regularly in January because she was concerned about her health.

Will this study inspire you to exercise more? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

She was overweight, her father had died at 48 of a heart attack, her mother also had heart problems, and her uncle had undergone quintuple bypass surgery despite running marathons. Because heart disease can run in families, she knew she had reason to worry.

But she has found that the benefits of her exercise have gone beyond the physical. She feels she is better able to focus on her job and has become more patient, as well.

Her experience is in line with those of sedentary women who participated in a study aimed at seeing how exercise affected their quality of life.

The study was released Thursday at the American Heart Association's Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.

Researchers found that women who exercised were more likely than women who didn't to experience improvements in quality-of-life indicators such as emotional health and social functioning — in addition to physical benefits.

Even a little exercise was beneficial, the study found.

The study randomly assigned more than 400 women to one of four groups. Three of the groups exercised in different amounts. The fourth did not exercise.

Before and after six months of exercise, participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire that addressed eight areas pertaining to quality of life.

The group exercising the most saw the most improvement in seven of eight categories covered by the survey. The only criterion in which no improvement was noted was pain.

But even the group that exercised least showed improvement in four of eight categories, said Angela Thompson, co-author of the study. Thompson is a research associate at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, affiliated with Louisiana State University.

The findings are important "because it's showing that women who weren't used to an exercise routine picked it up and felt better about it afterward," she said.

"There's this misconception that if I've never been active before, I shouldn't start when I'm postmenopausal, and that's definitely not the case. These women show that."

Thompson said the improvements occurred whether or not the women lost weight during the exercise period.

"Even if someone cannot exercise an hour or more daily, getting out and exercising 10 to 30 minutes per day is beneficial, too," Thompson said.

It has benefited Berrier, who, in addition to being overweight, has multiple sclerosis. Her exercise must be carefully modulated because getting overheated can cause her health problems.

But since beginning regular walking, she has noticed clear benefits.

"It's tiring, but it's a better tired; you sleep better," Berrier said.

"It helps emotions and morale, and it helps you to stay focused on what you need to do when you get up the next day and feel good."

She said the exercise also appears to have improved her concentration and patience.

"It's helped me feel happier, less stressed, less worrisome," she said. "You realize you can agree to disagree with other people."

Contact Lex Alexander at 373-7088 or lex.alexander@news-record.com