Exercise Lowers Near-Term Chances of Death From All Causes

I found an interesting stat on longevity this morning. It’s actually more regarding mortality and not dying early but hey; it’s close.

There was a recent study from the National Cancer Institute published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, which found that if you exercise moderate five days a week for at least 30 minutes you will be 27 percent less likely to die of all causes within the next seven years. They further found that if you exercise vigorously three days a week for at least 20 minutes then you will be 32 percent less likely die of all causes in the next seven years. This backs up what I have blogged about before regarding exercise promoting longevity.

What I find interesting about this study is that it was tailored to AARP members, people who were between 50 and 71 years of age. Middle aged people and older people alike were involved and combined those who exercised were less likely to die from any and all causes. You would think that those who were closer to 50 years of age had even more pronounced results. The study even said the small amounts of exercise were associated with a 19 percent decrease in expected mortality meaning that even if you do any amount of exercise you should be more likely to be alive in seven years. This coupled with the declining mortality rates associated with eating a Mediterranean diet should be a very exciting reinforcement to the values of those who seek to stay healthy and life long.

It would be interesting to see if the subject’s life spans were extended by consistent percentages of their typical remaining life expectancies rather than just intervals of seven-more-years alone. I would assume seven years for a 70-year old person is much more significant that seven years to a 50-year old. Of course if it was a consistent percentage across the board at any age increasing their mortality rate then I guess that’s good too. In any event this should be further encouragement for you to get out and exercise routinely. Your chances for early death will statistically drop.

Source
Archives of Internal Medicine
National Cancer Institute
http://www.nci.nih.gov/ncicancerbulletin/NCI_Cancer_Bulletin_121807/page4