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Exercise Good for Older Adults
Older adults can significantly reduce their chances of suffering a mixture of deadly
risk factors that lead to heart disease and stroke by taking just a moderate amount of
exercise, researchers say. A recent study focused on more than 100 adults aged 55 to 75,
half of whom were given a six-month program of supervised exercises three times a week.
The researchers found that walking, cycling and weightlifting all helped reduce
metabolic syndrome - the potentially deadly mix of risk factors that can make a person
more likely to develop heart disease, diabetes or stroke.
These risk factors include high blood pressure, excess fat around the abdomen, elevated
blood sugar levels and abnormal cholesterol levels. The latest study, published in the
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, was said to be the first to look at the role of
exercise in treating metabolic syndrome in older people.
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The researchers measured the various risk factors, body fat and fitness levels of the
exercising group and the control group, who were simply given a booklet encouraging
increased activity for its health benefits. The exercise group saw their aerobic fitness
increase by 16% and strength fitness increase by 17%. Fat in the abdominal region was
also reduced by 20%, while among those in the control group there was either no or
significantly less improvement compared with the exercising group.
At the start of the study 43% of the participants had metabolic syndrome.
After the six-month program, those in the exercising group saw no new cases of the syndrome
and the condition had been resolved in nine people—a reduction of 41%.
But in the control group four new cases of metabolic syndrome appeared and eight
disappeared - an overall reduction of 18%.
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