Running throughout middle
and older ages may be associated with reduced disability in later life as well
as a survival advantage, according to a report in the August 11/25 issue of Archives
of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
“Age-adjusted death rates have reached record lows and
life expectancy has reached record highs in recent years, likely due to a combination
of behavior and societal changes as well as improved medical and surgical therapies,”
the authors write as background information in the article. “With the
rise in life expectancy, it becomes necessary to focus on improving the quality
of life and functional abilities as people reach older ages. Regular exercise,
including running, may contribute to improved health among older adults.”
Eliza F. Chakravarty, M.D., M.S., and colleagues at Stanford
University School of Medicine, Calif., surveyed 284 members of a nationwide
running club and 156 healthy controls who were recruited from university faculty
and staff. All participants were age 50 or older when the study began in 1984.
They completed a mailed questionnaire annually through 2005, providing information
on exercise frequency, body mass index and disability level.
At the beginning of the study, runners were younger, leaner
and less likely to smoke than controls. After 19 years, 81 runners (15 percent)
had died compared with 144 controls (34 percent). Disability levels were lower
in runners at all time points and increased in both groups over time, but less
so in runners. At the end of the 21-year follow-up, in terms of disability,
“the higher levels among controls translate into important differences
in overall daily functional limitations,” the authors write. “Disability
and survival curves continued to diverge between groups after the 21-year follow-up
as participants approached their ninth decade of life.”
Regular exercise could reduce disability and death risk by increasing
cardiovascular fitness, improving aerobic capacity, increased bone mass, lower
levels of inflammatory markers, improved response to vaccinations and improved
thinking, learning and memory functions, the authors note.
“Our findings of decreased disability in addition to prolonged
survival among middle-aged and older adults participating in routine physical
activities further support recommendations to encourage moderate to vigorous
physical activity at all ages,” they conclude. “Increasing healthy
lifestyle behaviors may not only improve length and quality of life but also
hopefully lead to reduced health care expenditures associated with disability
and chronic diseases.”
Editor’s Note: This study was supported by grants from
the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and
the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
Please see the article for additional information, including other authors,
author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support,
etc.
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