Stanford Study Proves Running Slows the Aging Process

I do not enjoy running but I do enjoy how I feel when my run is completed. In addition to the endorphins running releases, running also slows the aging process. Stanford released the following regarding its long term study. I think I'll go for a run this afternoon.

"The Stanford University School of Medicine has released the results of a long-term study that explores how a lifetime of running affects the aging process. The multitude of benefits derived from running have surprised even the research team.
In 1984, James Fries, MD, and his team of research colleagues enlisted 538 runners, all older than 50, and a similar group of nonrunners. Each year since then, the study participants have completed questionnaires about their personal lives, including their ability to groom, dress, and walk themselves as well as to their ease in getting up from a chair and gripping various objects. Their running patterns have been documented through the years as well.
When the study began, the runners averaged about four hours of run time each week. Twenty-one years into the study, run time has diminished to only 76 minutes per average week but the runners were still reaping the benefits of their active lifestyle nonetheless.
After 19 years of study, only 15% of the runners had died, from any cause, compared to 34% of the group of nonrunners. As was expected, the rate of death due to cardiovascular disease was much lower in the group of runners but the running group also had fewer deaths attributed to cancer, infection, and neurological disease, among others.
By the 21st year of the study, participants in both the running and nonrunning groups had started bearing signs of advanced age. They are now all in their 70s and 80s. What has proven to be quite remarkable is that the age of decline is dramatically later in the runners than in the nonrunners.
The onset of initial disability occurred 16 years later, on average, in the group of runners than in the group not running. Even more surprising is that, as age advances, the gap between the health of the runners versus the health of the nonrunners widens, in effect compressing the ill effects of old age into the shortest amount of time possible.
Indeed, it was Fries’ theory of “compression of morbidity” that led to the study in the 1980s. At that time, critics of the new running craze said the exercise would lead to injuries of the knee and other joints that would cause osteoporosis and other crippling disabilities as age advanced.
Fries’ thoughts were that a lifetime of regular exercise, such as running, would extend the runner’s life while enhancing vitality and improving its quality at the same time. His extensive study has proven his hypothesis correct.
Fries is emeritus professor of medicine at Stanford’s medical school and is the senior author of the paper describing his study of running. The Archives of Internal Medicine carries the full details in its August 11 issue.
The National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases awarded grants for the Fries study."
Source: Stanford School of Medicine and Medheadlines Posted August 13, 2008

Keep Moving to Keep Your Brain Stimulated

As the baby boomer population grows older, the good news is that they are living longer. The downside is that statistics show that 1 in 8 adults over age 65 are affected by Alzheimer's disease. As a person living with a parent with the disease, I personally understand the implications. According to the following article written by Caryn Rabin in the New York Times, mental and physical exercise do help your cognitive functions as you grow older.

"AMERICANS may worry about heart disease, stroke and diabetes, but they downright dread Alzheimer’s disease, a recent survey found.
For good reason. One in eight adults over 65 is affected by the disease. Those who are spared know they may end up with the burden of caring for a parent or a spouse who is affected. Even though the number of older adults with dementias is rising rapidly, only a few drugs that have been approved to treat symptoms are on the market, and they slow down the disease but do not cure it.
Researchers, however, are more optimistic than ever about the potential of the aging brain, because recent evidence has challenged long-held beliefs by demonstrating that the brain can grow new nerve cells.
“For a long time, we held the assumption that we’re born with all the nerve cells we’re ever going to have, and that the brain is not capable of generating new ones — that once these cells die we’re unable to replace them,” said Molly V. Wagster, chief of the Neuropsychology of Aging branch of the National Institute on Aging. “Those assumptions have been challenged and put by the wayside.”
The birth of new nerve cells, she said, “has been shown to occur in the adult — not only in adult rats and monkeys, but also in older adult humans.” Most of the areas that show neurogenesis and that have been investigated so far are important for learning and memory, particularly the hippocampus, she added.
So how does one stimulate neurogenesis?
Scientists do not have all the answers, but studies of older people who have maintained their mental acuity provide some clues. They tend to be socially connected, with strong ties to relatives, friends and community. They are often both physically healthy and physically active. And they tend to be engaged in stimulating or intellectually challenging activities.
The big question is whether they remain mentally alert because they engage in these activities, or whether they are able to engage in these activities because they are cognitively intact.
“We don’t know whether this is an example of reverse causation or not — it’s probably a two-way street,” said Bruce S. McEwen, who heads the neuroendocrinology lab at Rockefeller University in New York.
But some interventional studies that have introduced older adults to exercise regimens have reported remarkable results. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recruited a group of sedentary adults between the ages of 60 and 75, assigning half of them to an aerobic exercise program that met three times a week to walk, while a control group did anaerobic stretching and toning.
The scientists measured the group’s cognitive function before and after the six-month program and found improvements among those who had done the walking.
“Six months of exercise will buy you a 15 to 20 percent improvement in memory, decision-making ability and attention,” said Arthur F. Kramer, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois. “It will also buy you increases in the volume of various brain regions in the prefrontal and temporal cortex, and more efficient neuronetworks that support the kind of cognition we examined.”
Other studies have found improvements in cognitive function after a combined regimen of physical exercise and cognitive training.
But skeptics say there is no guarantee that intellectual stimulation will prevent Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. “Maybe it does, but I don’t think we have a shred of evidence,” said Dr. Robert N. Butler, a psychiatrist and gerontologist who is president of the International Longevity Center-USA. “What it does is maintain good health,” he said, adding, “I don’t think we can go much further than that.”
But there is consensus among scientists on a few recommendations for action that, most agree, cannot hurt.
Regular physical activity may improve brain function, both by increasing blood flow to the brain and stimulating the production of hormones and nerve growth factors involved in neurogenesis. Animal studies have found that physically active animals have better memories and more cells in their hippocampus. Exercise also plays a role in countering diseases like Type 2 diabetes, which increases the risk of dementia. Cholesterol and hypertension, which affect vascular health, also need to be kept in check.
Seeking out stimulation through interesting work, volunteer opportunities or continuing education is beneficial. Travel, read, take up a new language or learn to play a musical instrument. Staying socially connected is also associated with brain health, as is managing stress effectively. Chronic stress can lead to the rewiring of areas of the brain that are involved in emotion, memory and decision-making, Dr. McEwen said, “and the brain becomes more biased toward more anxiety, more depression, less flexibility in terms of decision-making and becomes less able to store information.”
Most scientists recommend eating a Mediterranean-style diet, including fish and nuts containing omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, olive oil and possibly some red wine. (Blueberries are also recommended.) Some also suggest avoiding playing games like football, because of the risk of head injuries, staying away from pesticides and insecticides that contain neurotoxins and not drinking excessively.
“Another thing that’s important as people get older is to maintain flexible attitudes and be willing to try new things,” said K. Warner Schaie, who in 1956 started the Seattle Longitudinal Study, which follows the psychological development of participants through adulthood. “You have to expect things will shift over time and won’t be the same as when you were young. Those who manage to roll with the punches, and enjoy change rather than fighting it, tend to do well.”