Physical Activity Leads to Healthier Aging Say Four
New Studies of Senior Citizens
Papers in Archives of Internal Medicine detail
associations between exercise and cognitive function, bone density and
overall health
Jan.
25, 2010 – Four articles in the current issue of Archives of Internal
Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, add to the mountain of
research that finds physical activity can be a major contributor to
healthier aging. These studies found older women who survived the
longest exercised in middle age, exercise helped cognitive skills (two
studies) and it added to bone density of senior citizens.
These articles, and a commentary, say physical
activity appears to be associated with a reduced risk or slower
progression of several age-related conditions as well as improvements in
overall health in older ager.
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story
Exercise has previously been linked to beneficial
effects on arthritis, falls and fractures, heart disease, lung disease,
cancer, diabetes and obesity, write Jeff Williamson, M.D., M.H.S., and
Marco Pahor, M.D., of University of Florida, Gainesville, in a
commentary.
All of these conditions threaten older adults' ability to
function independently and handle tasks of daily living.
"Regular physical activity has also been associated
with greater longevity as well as reduced risk of physical disability
and dependence, the most important health outcome, even more than death,
for most older people," they continue.
These four new studies published - outlined below -
"move the scientific enterprise in this area further along the path
toward the goal of understanding the full range of important
aging-related outcomes for which exercise has a clinically relevant
impact."
Midlife Exercise Associated With Better Health
in Later Years
Among women who survive to age 70 or older, those
who regularly participated in physical activity during middle age appear
more likely to be in better overall health. Qi Sun, M.D., Sc.D., of the
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues analyzed data
from 13,535 participants in the Nurses' Health Study.
The women reported their physical activity levels
in 1986, at an average age of 60. Among those who had survived to age 70
or older as of 1995 to 2001, those who had higher levels of physical
activity at the beginning of the study were less likely to have chronic
diseases, heart surgery or any physical, cognitive or mental
impairments.
"Since the American population is aging rapidly and
nearly a quarter of Americans do not engage in any leisure-time
activity, our findings appear to support federal guidelines regarding
physical activity to promote health among older people and further
emphasize the potential of activity to enhance overall health and
well-being with aging," the authors conclude.
"The notion that physical activity can promote
successful survival rather than simply extend the lifespan may provide
particularly strong motivation for initiating activity."
Resistance Training Programs Appear to Improve
Some Cognitive Skills in Older Women
One year of once- or twice-weekly resistance
training appears to improve attention and conflict resolution skills
among older women.
Teresa Liu-Ambrose, Ph.D., P.T., of Vancouver
Coastal Health Research Institute and University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues studied 155 women age 65 to 75.
Participants were randomly assigned to participate in resistance
training once (54 women) or twice (52 women) weekly, whereas 49 women in
a control group participated in twice-weekly balance and tone training.
After one year, women in both resistance training
groups significantly improved their scores on tests of selective
attention (maintaining mental focus) and conflict resolution.
The program simultaneously improved muscular
function in the women.
"This has important clinical implications because
cognitive impairment is a major health problem that currently lacks a
clearly effective pharmaceutical therapy and because resistance training
is not widely adopted by seniors," the authors write. "The doses of
resistance training we used in this study fall within those recommended
by the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for seniors."
Physical Activity Reduced Cognitive Impairment
In Elderly
Moderate or high physical activity appears to be
associated with a lower the risk of developing cognitive impairment in
older adults after a two-year period.
Thorleif Etgen, M.D., of Technische Universität
München, Munich, and Klinikum Traunstein, Germany, and colleagues
examined physical activity and cognitive function in 3,903 participants
(older than 55) from southern Bavaria, Germany between 2001 and 2003.
At the beginning of the study, 418 participants
(10.7 percent) had cognitive impairment. After two years, 207 (5.9
percent) of the remaining 3,485 unimpaired study participants developed
incident cognitive impairment.
"The incidence of new cognitive impairment among
participants with no, moderate and high activity at baseline was 13.9
percent, 6.7 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively," the authors write.
"Future large randomized controlled intervention
trials assessing the quantity (e.g., no activity vs. moderate vs. high
activity) and quality (aerobic exercise or any kind type of physical
exercise, like balance and strength training or even integrated physical
activities like dancing or games) of physical activity that is required
to prevent or delay a decline in cognitive function are recommended,"
they conclude.
Exercise Program Associated With Denser Bones,
Lower Fall Risk in Older Women
Senior Women age 65 or older assigned to an
exercise program for 18 months appeared to have denser bones and a
reduced risk of falls, but not a reduced cardiovascular disease risk,
compared with women in a control group.
Wolfgang Kemmler, Ph.D., and colleagues at
Freidrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany,
studied a total of 246 older women. Half of the women exercised four
days per week with special emphasis on intensity while the other half
participated in a wellness program that focused on well-being.
Among the 227 women who completed the study, the
115 who exercised had higher bone density in their spine and hip, and
also had a 66 percent reduced rate of falls. Fractures due to falls were
twice as common in the controls vs. the exercise group (12 vs. six).
However, the 10-year risk of cardiovascular
disease—assessed using the Framingham Risk Calculator, which
incorporates factors such as cholesterol level, blood pressure and
presence of diabetes—decreased in both groups and did not differ between
the two.
"Because this training regimen can be easily
adopted by other institutions and health care providers, a broad
implementation of this program is feasible," the authors conclude.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
Jan.
25, 2010 – Four articles in the current issue of Archives of Internal
Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, add to the mountain of
research that finds physical activity can be a major contributor to
healthier aging. These studies found older women who survived the
longest exercised in middle age, exercise helped cognitive skills (two
studies) and it added to bone density of senior citizens.
