Archive for longevity
"Missing the Mark" But Still a Winner in the Long Run? Your Oxnard Chiropractor Explains
Posted by: | Comments“Close” isn’t generally a word we associate with success. In point of fact, not many things in life, it seems, count much at all if you “miss the mark” or don’t “hit a bull’s eye.” Well, it would seem that this may not be absolutely true when it comes to living longer. As a Chiropractor in Oxnard, who has many older patients and who is also fully dedicated to encouraging my patients to exercise at every age level, I was very happy to read about the results of the following study.
Researchers found that of the “least-fit” versus the “slightly more fit” of the nearly 4,400 healthy Americans in their recent study, roughly 20 percent with the lowest physical fitness levels doubled the risk of dying over the next nine years as the 20 percent with the next-lowest fitness levels. (That is to say, those 20 percent who were almost at the lowest fitness levels.) This is the proverbial “bad news/good news” type of result. It is undoubtedly bad news if you are a confirmed sofa spud. But, it is genuinely good news for those who haven’t completely embraced a sedentary lifestyle but are not, by any stretch of the imagination, “exertive.” Apparently, those people who continue to be just moderately fit as they age may live longer than those who are entirely out-of-shape, the study suggests.
Between 1986 and 2006, researchers evaluated the fitness levels of 4,384 middle-aged and senior adults during exercise treatmill tests. For approximately nine years thereafter, the researchers followed the study groups progress. Such factors as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure were considered in the study. This, in and of itself, accentuates the importance of physical fitness itself. In an email to Reuters Health, lead researcher, Dr. Sandra Mandic of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, stated: “Our findings suggest that a sedentary lifestyle, rather than differences in cardiovascular risk factors or age, may explain the two-fold higher mortality rates in the least-fit versus slightly more fit individuals.”
Nearly two-thirds of the least-fit study participants were not getting the minimum recommended amount of exercise, which is at least 30 minutes of moderate activity (like brisk walking) five or more days a week. “These results emphasize the importance of improving and maintaining high fitness levels by engaging in regular physical activity,” Mandic said, “particularly in poorly-fit individuals.”
After classifying the study group participants by fitness levels, the researchers discovered that 13 percent of those who were in slightly better shape had died during the study period. But, 25 percent of the least-fit men and women had died during the same period. Only 6 percent of the most-fit group (i.e., the ones who “hit a bull’s eye,” so to speak) had died during the follow-up period.
The five fitness-level groups reported little difference, overall, in their reported exercise practices during most of their adult lives, but notably, they contrasted in activity levels only in recent years. “Since it is recent physical activity that offers protection,” Mandic said, “it is important to maintain regular physical activity throughout life.”
And, perhaps it goes without saying, that regular chiropractic care is important along the way to may sure that you are well-adjusted for those higher levels of fitness. Call me, Dr. Donald Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor. I’m here to help you be all that you can be!
SOURCE: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, August 2009.
