Posted on 08/12/2008 1:00:27 AM PDT by Schnucki
Running on a regular basis can slow the effects of ageing, a study by US researchers shows.
Elderly joggers were half as likely to die prematurely from conditions like cancer than non-runners.
They also enjoyed a healthier life with fewer disabilities, the Stanford University Medical Center team found.
Experts said the findings in Archives of Internal Medicine reinforced the importance that older people exercise regularly.
Survival of the fittest
The work tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years, comparing them to a similar group of non-runners. All were in their 50s at the start of the study.
Nineteen years into the study, 34% of the non-runners had died compared to only 15% of the runners.
Both groups became more disabled with age, but for the runners the onset of disability started later - an average of 16 years later.
The health gap between the runners and non-runners continued to widen even as the subjects entered their ninth decade of life.
Running not only appeared to slow the rate of heart and artery related deaths, but was also associated with fewer early deaths from cancer, neurological disease, infections and other causes.
And there was no evidence that runners were more likely to suffer osteoarthritis or need total knee replacements than non-runners - something scientists have feared.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
However, most of the non-joggers could still get around since they did not have bad knees. Ask me how I know!
I would like to see this same study with regular walkers.
this is my experience as a life long runner. Fountain of youth for me.
I had to quit running after a 15 yr love affair with it (6 miles/day), due to pounding pain in my knees ever morning when I was 48.
Now, at 52, no knee pain unless I try to jog a short distance. Yes, I used the best of shoes. Waste of money.
I also train with lifting for my legs intensely to guard and support my knees and feet as best I can.
Where I have struggled is with Plantar Fascitis in the last few years, nearly had to give up the running because I refused cross training, but have done everything to get back on and stay on the road, including throwing a few days to other cardio and taking some hard time off (had it badly in BOTH feet!! :-(--OUCH.
It has been a dedication to the addiction/love (which I completely understood when you mentioned this) to stay on the road, but I also understand being forced to move onto to new exercise options. I hear cycling is a comparable and suitable endorphin replacement for ex-runners. Any luck here? Truth be told in the end just getting some frequent exercise is a big deal. I think it is difficult for us runners to move on and it is understandable why. Yet many people stay fit and healthy without pounding the asphalt. Tennis is also another one I have found is a great challenge and workout, as well as swimming. May you find your new love :-). Letting running go can be a heart breaker, but hey our bodies age and life is full of new surprises. I am sorry to hear of your loss, but know there will be new loves in your future :-).
Whenever I need to get my pulse taken, I always say before they start “by the way, I’m a long-distance runner.” Otherwise, they look at me funny.
Same problem here. Can't jog because of old knee injury and bad, high arches. My solution, which worked nicely, was to buy a good treadmill and walk uphill.
Caution, I started having foot problems again when the incline on the treadmill went above about 6.5 degrees. But as long as I keep things to a fast walk at 6.5 degrees, I'm good.
This limits somewhat how far I can go in terms of CV workout. But it's still a good workout. . . and my legs and feet aren't in constant pain.
Biking is good. I ran track in high school and had to stop because I was injuring my ankles. I would love to jog/run but don’t want to mess up my knees and ankles. I don’t have those issues riding a bike and the CV is still great. I ride back country roads and ride a Trek mountain bike.
I incorporated running into my exercise program (at 52)about 7 months ago. It has trimmed inches off of me that I could never get rid of through swimming or walking. They key is balance for me. I can’t even run one full lap around the track but work it in intervals for 3-5 miles, 2-3 times per week. I do buy new shoes frequently.
Staying active, no matter what the cardio activity, is key to good health. I know it improves my mood as well.
A better approach is "HeavyHands". More aerobic benefit than running (similar to cross-country skiing), but zero impact on joints.
http://www.heavyhandsfitness.com/content.aspx?idx=55
You are right. Virtual “fountain of youth” until your knees, hips and ankles etc fall apart from all of the high impact and usage stress that running put on them. Then it is an ongoing life of pain, meds, etc to cope with the aftermath of this so called “fountain of youth”.
“Heavyhands” has all the “gain” (and more) of running, without the problems.
Runners tend to have more wrinkles on their face...saggy skin from constant bouncing...and being in the elements. It might make them live longer but they look older.
Amen!
As a post-marathoner with knees now devoid of cartiledge I’m sorry I just didn’t walk and save the pounding of 4 times the body weight brought on by running.
They shoot horses don’t they?
Then there is always the story of Jim Fixx... here is the wiki summary
James F. Fixx, from New York, NY, USA, was a graduate of Oberlin College. He worked as an editor with Saturday Review, McCall’s, Life, Horizon and Audience magazines. He had written for magazines such as Saturday Review, Life and Playboy. His first writing job was at the Oberlin News Tribune, his next the Sarasota Journal. In his youth he worked as a gas pump attendant.
Fixx was a member of the high-IQ club Mensa and published three collections of puzzles: Games for the Super-Intelligent, More Games for the Super-Intelligent and Solve It! The back flap of his first book says: “...He spends his time running on the roads and trails near his home, training for the Boston Marathon.”
Fixx started running in 1967 at age 35. He weighed 240 pounds (=108.8 kilograms) and smoked two packs of cigarettes per day. Ten years later, when his book, Complete Book of Running (which spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on the best-seller list) was published, he was 60 pounds lighter and smoke-free. The book had inspired millions of people. In his books and on television talk shows, he extolled the benefits of physical exercise and how it considerably increased the average human being’s life expectancy.
The cover of Jim Fixx’ book, The Complete Book of Running, featured Fixx’s muscular legs against a red cover. The book sold over a million copies.
In 1980, Fixx wrote a follow up book entitled Jim Fixx’s Second Book of Running: The Companion Volume to The Complete Book of Running.
In 1982, Fixx published Jackpot!, the story of what happened after the publication of The Complete Book of Running when he experienced the “Great American Fame Machine”, becoming richer and more celebrated than he could have imagined. He had become a guru of the running boom.
Maximum Sports Performance, published posthumously, discusses the physical and psychological benefits of running and other sport, including: increasing self-esteem; acquiring a “high” from running; and being able to cope better with pressure and tension.
Fixx died at the age of 52 of a massive heart attack, after his daily run, on Route 15 in Hardwick, Vermont. The autopsy revealed that atherosclerosis had blocked one coronary artery 95%, a second 85%, and a third 50%. Many who opposed his beliefs said this was proof running was harmful.[1] However, Fixx came from a family where the men had poor health histories. His father suffered a heart attack at the age of 35 and died of one at 42. Given Fixx’s unhealthy lifestyle until he took up running, many argued that running added many years to his life.
A carved granite monument—a book with an inscription to Jim Fixx from the people of northeast Scotland—now stands in Hardwick Memorial Park, in Hardwick, Vermont.
It completely stopped the aging process for Issac Hayes.
Read any of the late Dr. Peter Steincrohn’s books or “The Exercise Myth,” by Henry Solomon, MD. Plato and Montaigne preached moderation in all things, yet we still don’t get it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.