Vigorous Exercise May Help Prevent Altzheimers
A growing body of medical research seems to be indicating that regular intense aeorbic exercise may reduce the likelihood, or at least delay the onset of the more serious symptoms of mental aging. A new study of 1,500 people in Sweden published this October found that hose who had engaged in robust physical activity at least twice a week since their youth or middle age had a 50% lower chance of developing dementia and a 60% lower risk of developing Altzheimer's than those who were sedentary!! November 2005's AARP Bulletin (yes, I'm in that age group) reports the details.
Obesity and Diabetes Epidemic
The statistics on obesity and diabetes are alarming.
- One in three Americans is obese.
- The incidence of obesity has nearly doubled from 1991 to 1998
- Nearly 21 million Americans (7% of the population is diabetic)
- 4100 Americans are diagnosed with diabetes each day
- An estimated 54 million Americans (18% of the population) have pre-diabetes
- In 2002 82,000 Americans had a limb amputated due to diabetes
The generation just now graduating from high school will suffer a 50% type II diabetes rate. The onset of type II diabetes is ocurring at a progressively younger age, largely due to poor dietary habits and lack of exercise in our youth. This is not only a tragedy at the personal level as the severe complications of diabetes (Charcot foot, neuropathy, amputation, etc) occur in much younger people, but a national crisis in health care. We are already spending 17% of the GDP on health care, and now, just as the boomer generation ages and requires more services, the younger generations are ALSO going to require a much more intense level of services than ever before. What we as individuals can do is not only take care of ourselves, but encourage friends and family to get out there and exercise. You don't have to run! The American Diabetes Association estimates that if today's kids got out and rode their bikes just 3 hours a week we could reduce type II in young people by 50%.
So! Get walking or running and eat right! Encourage your friends to do so. We all want to live healthy lives and we want our family and friends to do the same!
Stanford University Study on The Effects of Running
Regular running slows the effects of aging, according to a new study from the Stanford School of Medicine that tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. Elderly runners have fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and are half as likely as nonrunners to die early deaths, the research found.
The study, begun in 1984, followed two groups, one of active runners and another similar group of non runners as they aged. The study showed definitively that running slows the aging process; that runners become disabled an average of 16 years later than non-runners; that runners physical abilities in general do NOT dissipate as quickly as they age; that non only are older runners more fit cardiovascularly, but (and this was not expected) they are less likely to die from cancer, neurological disease, infections and other causes). Read the details of the study here, and get out and hit the road!
