WAITING UNTIL MID-LIFE TO GET PHYSICALLY ACTIVE STILL HUGELY BENEFICIAL!
GASTROENTEROLOGY NERD ALERT: WAITING UNTIL MID-LIFE TO GET PHYSICALLY ACTIVE STILL HUGELY BENEFICIAL!
Check out this article in JAMA Network Open that demonstrated that it is BETTER LATE THAN NEVER to get physically active!
“This cohort study of 315,059 participants found that maintaining physical activity from adolescence into later adulthood was associated with 29% to 36% lower risk for all-cause mortality and that being inactive but increasing physical activity during midlife was associated with 32% to 35% lower risk for mortality.”
This article in Health Day online summarizes the findings in an easier to read fashion:
“It’s truly never too late to begin exercising, new research shows.
Even for people who were “couch potatoes” in their youth, embarking on a regimen of regular exercise in middle-age can still greatly cut the odds for death from any cause, a major new study finds.
The study tracked the health — and lifetime exercise patterns — of more than 315,000 people who were members of AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons).
The investigators found that folks who’d exercised all their lives had a 36 percent lower risk of dying during the study period, compared to people who’d never exercised.
But, perhaps surprisingly, people who’d been inactive in youth but decided to get more physical in their 40s and 50s saw almost the same decline — 35 percent — in their odds for an early death.
This suggests “that midlife is not too late to start physical activity,” according to the research team led by Pedro Saint-Maurice of the U.S. National Cancer Institute. “Inactive adults may be encouraged to be more active, whereas young adults who are already active may strive to maintain their activity level as they get older,” the study authors wrote.
What’s more, a mid-life start to physical activity seemed to cut the odds of death from the two major killers — heart disease and cancer. The study found that for people who began exercising in their 40s and 50s, rates of death from heart disease fell by 43 percent compared to people who’d never exercised, and the cancer death rate fell by 16 percent.
Those declines were similar to those seen in people who’d exercised all their adult lives, the researchers noted.”
If you need help getting started – whether it’s for weight management, physical fitness, better mental health, or to simply raise your overall well-being – then call and make an appointment with our Physical Therapist and Fitness Consultant, Shayne Welch; or, if you’re having trouble matching your intention and motivation with your goals, come in build an effective strategy with our behavioral coach/counselor, Jed Foster.
The team at Comprehensive Gastrointestinal Health is eager to help you achieve your wellness goals. Consultations with the behavioral coach/counselor, dietitian, and physical therapist/fitness consultant are usually covered by standard commercial health insurance and we can help you figure out your coverage. Please call 224.407.4400 or visit compgihealth.com to schedule an appointment or to learn more information.