Older Men May Live Longer By Engaging Even In Light Physical Activity | By Benjamin Ryan
Men in their later years who accumulate 150 minutes of physical activity per week, even if it’s light in intensity and lasts for periods shorter than 10 minutes, have a lower risk of death than those who are more sedentary. This finding from a recent study of British older men stands in contrast to current recommendations those older men should sustain physical activity for longer individual periods to reap a health benefit.
This means that routine activities as gentle as gardening or walking the dog, which may be more suitable for men in their late senior years than the more rigorous workouts recommended for younger individuals, could have a considerably beneficial effect on this population.
Publishing their findings in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers analyzed data from the British Regional Heart Study. The long-term study first engaged 7,735 men from 24 British towns between 1978 and 1980 when they were in their forties or fifties. Then, between 2010 and 2012, investigators checked back in with 3,137 of those men. They gave them a physical exam and quizzed them about their lifestyle, sleeping patterns and any history of heart disease.
A total of 1,566, or half, of the men agreed to spend one week wearing a portable device that known as an accelerometer during their waking hours that monitored their physical activity, both how much they engaged in and its intensity. After that, the study investigators followed these men through June 2016. Ultimately, they based their analysis on 1,181 men. During an average of about five years of follow-up, 194 of these men died.
Overall, the data indicated that it didn’t matter so much how long these men sustained individual’s periods of physical activity when it came to having a lower risk of death. The important thing was that they accumulated enough time being physically active over the course of a week.
The study authors found that for each relative increase of 30 minutes of daily light intensity activity was linked to a 17 percent lower risk of death among the men. The investigators found this association still held true after controlling the data to account for differences among the men of certain risk factors for death, such as time spent sedentary. For each relative increase of 30 minutes of daily exercise of moderate to vigorous intensity, the men had a 33 percent lower risk of death. That said, the study authors found that even lighter exercise might lead to a longer life.
The analysis yielded no evidence that the length of periods ofmoderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise made a difference when it came to physical activity’s association with longevity. Sporadic periods of physical activity and periods lasting 10 minutes or more were both associated with about a 40 percent reduced mortality risk. Sixty-six percent of the men only ever engaged in physical activity in sporadic increments, compared with 16 percent who sustained physical activity for 10 minutes-plus periods.
Addressing a prevailing concern in the public health community about how sitting is harmful to health, the investigators found that their data did not show that breaking up periods of sitting offered any longevity benefit. Because this study was observational in nature—it did not, for example, provide the men with a specific health-promoting intervention in order to test its effects—it is not possible to conclude that physical activity definitely caused certain men to live longer. They study may also be biased by the fact that the men who opted to use the accelerometer tended to be younger and have healthier lifestyles than the men who declined. Additionally, the findings are not necessarily generalizable to women or to younger individuals.
All this said, the study authors suggest that their findings may help craft guidelines for recommended physical activity among older men that take into account reasonable expectations for what kind of activity these individuals may engage in along with how such activity may benefit their longevity.
Sources: (1) https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-02/b-jaf021618.php; (2) http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2018/01/19/bjsports-2017-098733
#Exercise #VMM #PHARMATIVE
Men in their later years who accumulate 150 minutes of physical activity per week, even if it’s light in intensity and lasts for periods shorter than 10 minutes, have a lower risk of death than those who are more sedentary. This finding from a recent study of British older men stands in contrast to current recommendations those older men should sustain physical activity for longer individual periods to reap a health benefit.
This means that routine activities as gentle as gardening or walking the dog, which may be more suitable for men in their late senior years than the more rigorous workouts recommended for younger individuals, could have a considerably beneficial effect on this population.
Publishing their findings in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers analyzed data from the British Regional Heart Study. The long-term study first engaged 7,735 men from 24 British towns between 1978 and 1980 when they were in their forties or fifties. Then, between 2010 and 2012, investigators checked back in with 3,137 of those men. They gave them a physical exam and quizzed them about their lifestyle, sleeping patterns and any history of heart disease.
A total of 1,566, or half, of the men agreed to spend one week wearing a portable device that known as an accelerometer during their waking hours that monitored their physical activity, both how much they engaged in and its intensity. After that, the study investigators followed these men through June 2016. Ultimately, they based their analysis on 1,181 men. During an average of about five years of follow-up, 194 of these men died.
Overall, the data indicated that it didn’t matter so much how long these men sustained individual’s periods of physical activity when it came to having a lower risk of death. The important thing was that they accumulated enough time being physically active over the course of a week.
The study authors found that for each relative increase of 30 minutes of daily light intensity activity was linked to a 17 percent lower risk of death among the men. The investigators found this association still held true after controlling the data to account for differences among the men of certain risk factors for death, such as time spent sedentary. For each relative increase of 30 minutes of daily exercise of moderate to vigorous intensity, the men had a 33 percent lower risk of death. That said, the study authors found that even lighter exercise might lead to a longer life.
The analysis yielded no evidence that the length of periods ofmoderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise made a difference when it came to physical activity’s association with longevity. Sporadic periods of physical activity and periods lasting 10 minutes or more were both associated with about a 40 percent reduced mortality risk. Sixty-six percent of the men only ever engaged in physical activity in sporadic increments, compared with 16 percent who sustained physical activity for 10 minutes-plus periods.
Addressing a prevailing concern in the public health community about how sitting is harmful to health, the investigators found that their data did not show that breaking up periods of sitting offered any longevity benefit. Because this study was observational in nature—it did not, for example, provide the men with a specific health-promoting intervention in order to test its effects—it is not possible to conclude that physical activity definitely caused certain men to live longer. They study may also be biased by the fact that the men who opted to use the accelerometer tended to be younger and have healthier lifestyles than the men who declined. Additionally, the findings are not necessarily generalizable to women or to younger individuals.
All this said, the study authors suggest that their findings may help craft guidelines for recommended physical activity among older men that take into account reasonable expectations for what kind of activity these individuals may engage in along with how such activity may benefit their longevity.
Sources: (1) https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-02/b-jaf021618.php; (2) http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2018/01/19/bjsports-2017-098733
#Exercise #VMM #PHARMATIVE