Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
January 17, 2001
Exercise seen as key to fight age-related diseases
Daily workout helps older Americans enjoy golden years
Ten years ago, one in 10 Americans was over age 50. Today, the proportion has risen to one in five, and by the year 2025 there will be one in five Americans over 65.
But living longer does not necessarily mean living well. Not surprisingly, the problem lies with physical inactivity.
Experts concluded long ago that lack of exercise is associated with many age-related medical conditions, including high-blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis.
Mounting evidence from research has painted a clear picture that if you exercise, you benefit; if you don't, you increase your risk of these diseases. In fact, regular exercise, along with a good diet, can help fight off these diseases, even late in life.
Aerobic exercises are said to be the most effective ways to achieve physical benefits. The best forms of aerobic exercises include brisk walking, swimming, bike riding, running, rope jumping and rowing.
Sports such as bowling, tennis or golf have good recreational effects, but they don't require enough effort to reach sustained aerobic levels.
When you become aerobically fit, the lungs, heart and blood vessels process oxygen into energy to enable large muscle groups to perform for a sustained period. The heart becomes stronger, allowing it to pump more blood with each beat. The veins and arteries grow larger and more pliant, accommodating a greater flow of blood with its energy-rich oxygen and other nutrients. The lungs become more efficient, extracting more oxygen from the same volume of air and processing a greater total volume of air.
According to a recent study of 17,000 Harvard alumni who walked at least 30 minutes a day, these physiological changes lead directly to important health benefits.
The risk of dying from a heart attack was reduced by 36 percent, the study said, and the risk of dying prematurely from all causes was reduced by 22 percent. The study goes on to say that exercise reduces blood pressure in people with hypertension by 5 to 10 points - both systolic and diastolic - and helps those who are healthy to remain so.
The Harvard researchers also found there are many secondary benefits to regular exercise, including:
- Causes the release of endorphins and other chemicals in the brain that lead to an increased sense of well-being. Feelings of depression and anxiety are reduced.
- Leads to a rise in high density lipoprotein (HDL) or "good" cholesterol that collects the harmful low density lipoprotein (LDL) from the arteries and transports it to the liver for removal from the body.
- Reduces the risk of developing adult onset diabetes, and helps control diabetes if you already have it.
- Increases gastrointestinal transit time by 56 percent thus reducing the risk of colon cancer.
- Improves the delivery of oxygen to the brain, thus improving our mental capacity, particularly as we age.
- Helps manage weight, as increased metabolic rate enables your body to burn more calories even when you are at rest.
When people become active, they start eating better, are less prone to substance abuse, start taking better care of themselves and experience improved mental outlook.
How do you get started? Check with your physician about how much exercise you can safely do.
Then consider the following guidelines suggested by Personal Training Associates of Herndon, Va.:
1. Set realistic goals and objectives. Ask a training specialist what those goals should be.
2. Create daily lists and check off manageable goals every day.
3. Don't try to accomplish too much, too fast.
4. Reward yourself for meeting pre-established goals - but not with a hot-fudge sundae.
5. Accept compliments.
