Editor's Choice Academic Journal Main Category: Sports Medicine / Fitness Also Included In: Seniors / Aging;Public Health Article Date: 28 Aug 2012 - 3:00 PDT

Current ratings for: Middle Aged Fitness Protects Health In Old Age

Several studies have looked into how physical fitness might impact on elderly health and longevity. A report published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2008 showed that midlife aerobic fitness can delay biological aging by up to 12 years, as well as securing an independent lifestyle during old age.

Dr. Benjamin L. Willis and team gathered data from Medicare claims with information on participants from the Cooper Center Longitudinal Study, involving 14,726 men and 3,944 women. The data spanned from 1970 to 2008. All the participants were healthy and had an overall median age of 49 years at baseline.

The researchers were looking out for incidence of eight chronic conditions after the age of 65: Alzheimer's disease, colon or lung cancers, chronic kidney disease, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), stroke, ischemic heart disease, diabetes, and congestive heart failure.

The authors wrote:

The participants were followed up on average for 26 years. Those in the top quintile for fitness had a considerably lower incidence of chronic conditions later in life compared to the people in the bottom quintile (1.5 vs 28.2 per 100 person years in males, and 11.4 vs. 20.1 in females). Participants' fitness levels were measured by getting them to do certain tasks on a treadmill.Even moderate improvements in fitness during age were found to reduce the risk of developing chronic conditions later on.

The authors wrote:

Midlife fitness appears to be more closely linked with a lower incidence of chronic diseases later on than improved survival, which also benefits, but less so, the researchers noted. Dr. Willis explained that "Compared with participants with lower midlife fitness, those with higher midlife fitness appeared to spend a greater proportion of their final five years of life with a lower burden of chronic conditions."

In other words, midlife fitness increases your chances of living more healthily during old age and having a lower risk of developing chronic conditions. Your lifespan may benefit slightly too. Your last years of life are more likely to be free of chronic diseases, or at least affected by fewer of them, compared to unfit middle-aged people.

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Middle Aged Fitness Protects Health In Old Age