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Exercise,
Moderate Drinking Keeps Seniors Active
By
Merritt McKinney
Journal of the American
Geriatrics Society, October 17, 2002
Looking for a way to stay active and independent well past retirement age? A
new study has found that while people with certain health conditions,
including heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, seem to decline
more as they age, seniors who exercise regularly and drink occasionally
seem better able to maintain their abilities to carry out their daily
activities.
Moderate drinking and exercise seem to reduce the deterioration that occurs
with aging, the study's lead author, Dr. Gerald van Belle of the
University of Washington in Seattle, told Reuters Health.
"It doesn't stop it," he said in an interview, "but it slows
it down."
In 1994, van Belle and his colleagues started tracking about 2,500 people
ages 65 and older who were enrolled in a Seattle-area health maintenance
organization. At the start of the study, none of the participants had been
diagnosed with dementia. Participants were interviewed at the start of the
study and then every 2 years thereafter. The findings appear in the
September issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
At the start of the study, people with certain conditions--including
diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and osteoporosis--had more
trouble with walking and other physical activities, and were less able to
perform their daily activities. In contrast, people who exercised at least
three times a week or who drank moderately--defined as five or more drinks
a year without any alcohol problems--had fewer difficulties with their
daily activities and physical functioning.
These findings were not surprising, according to van Belle, but as time
passed, he and his colleagues noticed an interesting trend. People who
started the study with certain medical conditions tended to decline more
rapidly than healthier people, he said.
According to the Seattle researcher, their abilities started out lower and
were "going down faster." But he added that "exercise
seemed to be protective." People who exercised regularly were not
able to stop the aging process, but they did seem to slow it a little. The
change in their abilities over time "was actually less" than in
people who did not exercise as much, he said.
Similarly, moderate drinking seemed to slow age-related deterioration, he
said. Though many other studies have linked exercise and moderate drinking
to good health, van Belle cautioned that the study does not prove that
these activities were the reason people maintained their abilities longer.
It is possible, he said, that other characteristics of people who drink
moderately or exercise contribute to the differences.
Van Belle and his
colleagues are continuing to follow the original participants who are
still alive, and they hope to recruit a "second wave" of another
1,000 seniors. As the trial continues, they also plan to track the effect
of mild cognitive impairment, which is less severe than dementia but still
causes problems with memory and other mental abilities, on functional
abilities. In addition, the researchers plan to use the HMO's pharmacy
database to track the effects of medications on these abilities.
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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