Exercise

Routine moderate exercise can reduce the risk of premature death in people with heart problems by up to 60%.

dds of Early Death from Heart Disease

For older adults, just three months of physical activity improves the elasticity of arteries, thereby reducing the risks of heart disease and stroke.

Ability of a person’s circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen during physical activity declines throughout adulthood, accelerating after age 45 and more so in those who are physically inactive, obese, or smokers.

The incidence of colds can be greatly reduced by making exercise a part of daily life.

US National Cancer Institute researchers find that regular moderate-to-vigorous exercise in the ten-year period preceding menopause may help reduce the risk of breast cancer later in life.

In that previous studies have suggested potential associations between exercise and prostate cancer risk reduction, Jodi A. Antonelli, from Duke University Medical Center (North Carolina, USA), and colleagues enrolled 190 men who underwent prostate needle biopsy and found that those who were moderately active (engaging in 9 or more hours of metabolically active exercise a week) were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Typically, strength weakens with age, which can lead to disability and increased risk of falls. Chiung-ju Liu, of Indiana University (USA), and colleagues studied data from 121 trials involving 6,700 older men and women. Overall, the team found that progressive resistance training reduced weakness and improved study subjects’ abilities to perform both basic and more complex tasks of daily living.

People who stay even moderately fit as they age may live longer than those who are out-of-shape.  A study by Sandra Mandic, from University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand), and colleagues studied 4,384 middle-aged and older adults whose fitness levels were assessed via exercise treadmill tests between 1986 and 2006, then followed these subjects for nine years.

Weightlifting rejuvenates blood flow to muscles thereby helping lessen muscle wasting that occurs naturally as people age.  Michael Rennie, from The University of Nottingham Schools of Graduate Entry Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (United Kingdom) reports that seniors need only engage in one hour of weightlifting, twice a week, to help preserve muscles that typically decrease with age and may become injured in falls.

In that exercise capacity is inversely related to risk of death, a study has determined that sedentary elderly men are at a markedly increased risk of dying, as compared to those men who engaged in regular physical activity.  Peter Kokkinos, from Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (Washington DC, USA), and colleagues studied 3,041 male veterans, ages 70 to 92 years, following the subjects for all-cause mortality for more than 20 years.