Starting Exercise May Help
Older Women Live Longer

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Embracing physical activity beyond age 65 may help women live longer lives, study findings released Tuesday suggest.

People who exercise have consistently been shown to lower their risks of heart disease, diabetes, physical disability and some forms of cancer -- but whether older adults can extend their lives by taking up exercise has been unclear, according to the report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In the new study -- of more than 7,500 women age 65 and up -- researchers found that sedentary women who became more active during the study had a 48 percent lower risk of death from any cause than those who remained inactive.

The researchers, led by Dr. Edward W. Gregg of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, followed the women for up to 12.5 years, asking them about their exercise levels at the study's start and again several years later.

All of the women estimated how much they walked each day and the frequency and duration of leisure activities such as dancing, gardening, aerobics and swimming during the previous year. The researchers also evaluated the women's medical records.

They found that women who became newly active during the study had a 36 percent lower heart disease risk and a 51 percent lower risk of cancer than those who stayed sedentary.

"Modest increases in physical activity could have wide-ranging benefits ranging from improved risk factors to reduced disability," the authors write.

"Our findings suggest these benefits may translate into substantial reductions mortality," they add, noting that more needs to be done to increase walking and other low-intensity activities among older women.

However, the study authors note, their findings suggest that boosting exercise levels may be less beneficial for women age 75 and up and those already in poor overall health.

Women 75 years and older did lower their risk of death when they went from a sedentary to an active lifestyle, but the effect was not as strong as for younger women.

Women who were active throughout the study also had lower risks of death from cardiovascular disease or any other cause than sedentary women did.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association 2003;289:2379-2386.

Reference Source 89

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