|
Early
Fitness Pays Off, Study Finds
High blood pressure, heart disease and related problems
are not the inevitable products of aging but problems that
can be held at bay by being fit early in life, a study said.
The finding came from a look at 5,115 men and women in four
regions of the United States who were enrolled in a study
between the ages of 18 and 30, tested for fitness on a treadmill
and followed for 15 years.
"Participants with low fitness were three- to six-fold
more likely to develop diabetes, hypertension, and the metabolic
syndrome (excess abdominal fat, elevated blood pressure
and triglycerides and low levels of so-called 'good' cholesterol)
than participants with high fitness," the study concluded.
"Previous work has demonstrated that engaging in a
regular exercise program can improve fitness. If the association
between fitness and cardiovascular risk factor development
is causal, and if all unfit young adults had been fit, there
may have been 21 percent to 28 percent fewer cases of hypertension
diabetes, and metabolic syndrome," the authors said.
"The key point from this study is that the development
of risk factors for heart disease and stroke isn't just
the natural result of aging," said Mercedes Carnethon
of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine,
chief author of the study.
"All Americans -- including women and minorities --
can protect themselves against those risks by maintaining
their physical fitness," she said.
"Americans don't have to run marathons to improve their
physical fitness," added Cheryl Nelson of the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute which partly sponsored
the study.
"They should try to engage in at least 30 minutes of
a moderate-intensity physical activity such as brisk walking
on most and, preferably, all days of the week. Being physically
active will not only improve their fitness but also help
them maintain a healthy weight, which in turn will protect
their heart health," she added.
The study was published in this week's Journal of the American
Medical Association.
Article Source: Reuters Health
Article Author: N/A
Net Reference 89
|
