Don't Wait - Start Today to Exercise, or at Least Be More Active

By Tucker Sutherland, editor

Study after study coming across my desk build an increasingly strong case that exercise can keep us younger, healthier and sharper. It's no longer debatable!

Exercising your brain and your body will improve your mind - maybe help you escape Alzheimer's - and escape many physical problems associated with aging.

That's the growing conclusion of research that shows fogged memory and slowed wit are not inevitable consequences of getting old, and there are steps people can take to protect their brains, according to AP Medical Writer Laureen Neergaard. 

"Mental exercise seems crucial. Benefits start when parents read to tots and depend heavily on education, but scientists say it's never too late to start jogging the gray matter.

"People have to get physical, too. Bad memory is linked to heart disease, diabetes and a high-fat diet, all risks people can counter by living healthier lives.

"In fact, provocative new research suggests these brain-protective steps, mental and physical, may be strong enough even to help influence who gets Alzheimer's disease," Neergaard wrote in an article on July 25, 2000. (See full article)

Two researchers and authors being interviewed on National Public Radio on July 27, said exercise seems to help prevent even cancer - particularly of the colon and breast. There is even evidence that those who exercise and smoke are less at risk of lung cancer than smokers who do not exercise.

Serious falls among older adults are often considered a consequence of failing eyesight and disability. But public health experts warn that they are frequently the result of a sedentary lifestyle that weakens the body, and say exercise may be the best way to curb an alarming rise in serious falls.

Carol Krucoff reported in the Washington Post on July 25, on opinions from several specialists on aging that exercise does help prevent falling. (See Article)

One in three people age 65 and older falls, notes Judy Stevens, an epidemiologist at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) in Atlanta. 

A fall is generally the product of a constellation of factors, including household clutter, the disorienting effects of some medications and poor vision. In addition, people are living longer, often with some form of disability. But a major reason for falls, Stevens says, is older adults' weakened physical condition, frequently as a result of inactivity.

A recent NCIPC report reveals that the fall-related death rate among people age 65 or older increased by about 27 percent among women and by almost 19 percent among men between 1987 and 1996. The rate of hip fracture hospitalizations among women jumped by almost 40 percent, between 1988 to 1996.

"Various research projects are looking for ways to prevent falls," Stevens says. "The most effective intervention we have found so far is exercise. Programs that concentrate on improving strength and balance appear to make the biggest difference."

Researchers are also paying increasing attention to the benefits of strength training. Ben Hurley, a professor in the department of kinesiology at the University of Maryland in College Park, says it can help increase strength and power in muscle groups that are associated with falls and may also improve walking mechanics and stability.

In addition, "strength training helps prevent and treat a disease called sarcopenia, which is literally the loss of flesh with age," Hurley notes. Sarcopenia is associated with declines in daily functioning and also with metabolic changes, which may include impaired glucose tolerance and increased risk of diabetes.

"Strength levels decrease by about 12 to 14 percent per decade, starting at about age 60 in men and about age 50 in women," notes Hurley. Yet the decline in strength that occurs after two to three decades of aging--about a 30 to 40 percent loss--can be gained within the first two months of a properly designed strength training program, he says.

"Older people respond to strength training about the same as young people and probably achieve more health-related benefits than young people," he says. "For example, older individuals not only have lower strength and muscle mass than young people, but they also tend to have a lower resting metabolic rate, lower bone mineral density and are at higher risk for diabetes--all areas that can be improved with strength training."

These are just stories in the last few days pointing at the critical need for seniors to exercise. Don't put it off another day. If "exercise" sounds too strenuous, at least try moving around more - walking more. 

Today's seniors have a lot to offer to the community and their families - lets don't let it go to waste because of lack of effort.

•The National Institute on Aging offers a free 100-page booklet on exercise for seniors and just released a companion video that sells for $7. To receive both, mail a check or money order for $7, payable to the National Institute on Aging, to NIAIC, Dept. F, P.O. Box 8057, Gaithersburg, MD 20898-8057. To receive only the free booklet, call 1-800-222-2225.

> National Institute on Aging

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For more on Senior exercise see our Fitness Page