16th annual Doc Walk set for May 1 at Oak Park

MINOT, ND ( KXNET ) — Dr. Dawn Mattern from Trinity Health will host the 16th annual Doc Walk on May 1 at Oak Park.

Staying healthy comes in many different forms and walking is just one of them.

Dr. Dawn Mattern says ‘The Doc Walk’ is a great kickoff to the month long journey known as Exercise is Medicine Month.

May is also physical activity month so it’s perfect for us to get out and do a little bit of moving.

“I love having exercise for medicine. I love having patients that take care of their health and can do the things that help them in their health journey,” said Mattern.

Plus, in May, in North Dakota, it is our first time to get out and do something together, go out celebrate nature, celebrate being able to move, and exercise together.

Walking has multiple benefits like being a great stress reliever, but that isn’t the only one.

“It also helps reduce our blood pressure for the next 24 hours. So if we all could go for a walk every 24 hours we would all keep our blood pressure down. It also makes our blood sugars a little lower and our muscles a little more tolerant of the insulin so we can help with diabetes,” said Mattern.

Stroke, depression, and anxiety are all some of the other conditions exercise helps alleviate.
It’s one of the many reasons why exercise is called the miracle pill.

“Everything, the treatment, the rehabilitation. If you are taking a pill for blood pressure if you are taking a pill for diabetes right. I have one medicine that fixes everything and works on everything. So I think it is the magic pill plus I love that it empowers patients to take charge of their health they don’t need a doctor to do a shot or do a surgery,” said Mattern.

Exercise is something pretty much everyone can do to take care of their health and Mattern adds that walking can even reduce some cancers.

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