(10-01-06) Exercise to get fit, live longer: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even moderate levels of physical exercise prevent heart disease and prolong life, and the degree of benefit increases as the level of physical activity rises, according to a report released Monday.

Although the benefits of physical activity are widely recognized, it is unclear whether the level of physical activity significantly affects life expectancy or the length of time people enjoy life free of heart disease.

To address these questions, researchers evaluated data on a group of people older than age 50 who participated in the Framingham Heart study. This study has followed some 5,200 residents of Framingham, Mass., over the past 46 years.

After adjustment for smoking status, co-illnesses, and other relevant factors, the authors estimate that subjects who participated in moderate physical activity starting at age 50 lived 1.3 years longer, and 1.1 year longer free of heart disease, than sedentary subjects.

Those who participated in high levels of physical activity lived 3.5 years longer overall and had 3.2 years longer free of cardiovascular disease. The differences were similar for both genders.

"Our study suggests that following an active lifestyle is an effective way to achieve healthy aging," Dr. Oscar H. Franco from Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands and his colleagues conclude.

In a related study, researchers looked at what impact a doctor's advice to exercise at various frequencies and intensities has on exercise behavior in 492 healthy but sedentary men and women ages 30 to 69 years.

According to the records that the subjects kept, the amount of exercise they actually completed was lower than the levels prescribed, the investigators report.

"The bottom line," Dr. Michael G. Perri from the University of Florida in Gainesville told Reuters Health, is that when a doctor prescribes exercise to people, they don't do as much as prescribed. They do about 60 percent of the amount they are asked to do.

"The implications are that (doctors) probably have to encourage people to aim high both in terms of frequency and pace when using walking as an exercise to achieve observable benefit," Perri said.

In other words, he added, "shoot for 30 minutes walking at a brisk pace every day."

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, November 14, 2005.

News

---

In evidenza

"L'informazione presente nel sito serve a migliorare, e non a sostituire, il rapporto medico-paziente."

Per coloro che hanno problemi di salute si consiglia di consultare sempre il proprio medico curante.