Thursday, August 14, 2008

Running can slow aging process

Regular running slows the effects of aging claim scientists who tracked 500 running grannies for more than 20 years. The study found people who run are less likely to have disabilities in old age and will on average live longer than their non running OAP friends. In 1984 researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine started following 538 over 50s who ran average of about four hours a week. Fast forward 20 years and while 15 percent of the running grannies are dead, this figure is 34 percent in a control sample of non runners. The runners - now in their 70s and 80s - were also found to be living higher-quality lives and more able to perform everyday activities.On average both groups in the study became more disabled after 20 years of aging, but for runners the onset of disability started later with initial disability kicking in 16 years later than non-runners. "The study has a very pro-exercise message," said James Fries, MD, an emeritus professor of medicine at the medical school and the study’s senior author. "If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise." The OAP runners admitted the time they spent running each week had dropped from four hours to just 76 minutes ... and for some of them it now takes that long to to put their running shoes on...NewsLite

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