The Relationship Between Exercise and Human Longevity

The thesis for this research project is, Physical activity, exercise, and healthy lifestyle choices will increase life expectancy and improve ones quality of life also. I started the research project with three research questions that I wanted to answer.

1. What is the difference between physical activity, exercise, and healthy lifestyle?
   
2. Of the three groups those who are active, those people that implement a program of exercise or physical fitness and those who engage in a healthy lifestyle which group increases their longevity the most?
   
3. How does exercising increase longevity and quality of life?

The first question was fairly easy to answer, the second was not answered to my satisfaction, and the third question was also easy to find answers to. It seems that with all of the variables to human mortality such as diet, environment, geographic location, fitness levels, etc. that there is no concrete research being done to estimate a range of increased longevity based on lifestyle and exercise. I conducted my research by searching out and reading over 150 articles on topics such as physical fitness, longevity, physical activity, healthy lifestyles, exercise for the elderly, exercise, heart health, and other related topics. Of all of the articles that I retrieved I saved over 25 as verifiable, reliable sources for my research paper. I found that the fitness levels that I had divided my research groups into were all part of a healthy lifestyle and are referred to as healthy lifestyle options, meaning that these are not necessarily different groups but different levels of the one group. What I also found is that yes healthy lifestyle choices will extend your life expectancy. Physical fitness increases our bone density, reduces the amount of muscle that we lose as we age, including the muscle of the heart, and it improves the quality of our lives in later years and aids in maintaining our physical independence longer.

The Relationship Between Healthy Lifestyle Choices and Increased Life Expectancy.

INTRODUCTION

My thesis when I began this project was simple. People who engage in healthy lifestyle choices live longer, healthier, and happier lives. Of those people who engage in physical activity, those who institute a program of fitness, and those who convert to a complete healthy lifestyle I also wanted to know if there was any data out there that specified of the three groups how much time was added to your original life expectancy and which of these three groups would live longer. I surmised that it would be the healthy lifestyle group as they modify four different areas of their life rather than just exercising or monitoring their diet and adding an exercise regimen to their lifestyle. I was surprised to discover that there was no data out there to either prove or disprove my theory. While there was adequate data to back up my thesis that exercise will indeed help a person to live a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life and there was adequate information on how it was possible to extend your life with diet and exercise. I also found that the aging process can literally be slowed down with healthy lifestyle choices and that was something that I had not counted on finding. in a test of exercise ability in the elderly it was found that structured exercise improved the walking test scores of the study participants which translated to an increased ability to perform routine daily tasks,

"Even a small improvement of a half point on the SPPB test score's scale of 0 to 12 may represent major improvement in an elder person's ability to perform activities of daily living, such as walking across a room, dressing, eating or bathing. A low score, between 0 and 4, is a strong risk factor for disability and death." And that those in the structured exercise group had a lower incidence of physical disability. Swyers, Jim (2006).

This indicates that even in the elderly exercise slows the aging process and improves the ability of the elderly to remain independent for longer than those who do not exercise. Several studies also showed that regardless of age adding a program of physical fitness to a persons routine will benefit them physically and prolong their lives.

Methods

My research was conducted by seeking out and reading articles related to exercise, life expectancy, lifestyle modification, healthy lifestyles, and other related topics. I used the World Wide Web and the Axia College of the University of Phoenix Library which is provided for student use on their website. I also searched the Web using an Rss feed reader and inserting the same search terms into the search section of the reader. Additional sources were located by talking to both trainers and member of World Gym in Desert Hot Springs, California and in Palm Desert, California about the purpose of exercise and the perceived benefits of implementing an exercise regimen into a persons life. I spoke with several people and couples who were in the elderly age range 50+ to find out how long they had been working out, what benefits they felt they were gaining by working out, how often they work out, and whether or not they had also modified their diet in addition to working out.

Results

It was found that simply engaging physical activity will improve health and life expectancy, and that physical activity is the main group in which exercise and physical fitness are subgroups. Exercise is the most important of the four components of a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle is defined as, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, quitting (or not starting) smoking, and minimizing stress. Food and Drug Administration (2006). Which is quite a modification to most the lifestyles of most Americans. Americans take in such a huge amount of modified starches and carbohydrates in their diets that just "eating a healthy diet" is a significant and sometimes difficult task to manage. So is maintaining a healthy diet. Millions of Americans are struggling with quitting smoking to avoid the illnesses that are inherent in smoking. In regard to exercise Lee, MD (2003) states

If you aren't doing much physically, then mild exercise a few times a week will cut your heart disease risk in half. Americans have become incredibly sedentary - remote controls, drive-up banks, elevators and other conveniences have made it possible to get through the day burning a trivial amount of calories. As a result, even mild activity - like walking at a reasonable clip - a few times per week can make a big difference in the health of your blood vessels. Just raising your heart rate and dilating those arteries modestly can help to lower your blood pressure and fight off atherosclerosis. So, if you are a true couch potato, the orders from this doctor are to begin doing 20- to 30-minute walks three days a week. If you feel chest pressure, light-headed or markedly short of breath, see your doctor right away. But if not, get back out there in two days.

If you do mild exercise a few times a week, increase the frequency to every day. At this point, we know it is safe for you to take those one- to two-mile walks. So what's the point of waiting two days before your next one? Going to daily exercise will help you to burn more calories, and that will have a whole range of beneficial health effects.

If you can do mild or moderate physical activities daily, start doing short bursts of more intense activity. You can jog five or 10 miles per day at the same slow clip, and you will burn plenty of calories, but you won't really make your cardiovascular system much healthier. One of the painful messages from recent research is that intense activity - 30 to 60 seconds of really pushing yourself - takes the health of your blood vessels to a new level. This kind of interval training is what athletes do, and for good reason. It conditions your arteries to pump out nitric oxide and other chemicals that help them dilate when your muscles really need a lot of blood. And there is pretty good evidence that this kind of stress on the arteries helps to keep them younger.

So getting exercise is a pretty important component when one is trying to "turn back the clock" on aging or at least slow it down. Exercise is great for the body at any age and yields the same benefits to the body at any age. Exercise is also safe for people at any age or fitness level

Providers of information from the Harvard School of Medicine's consumer information board defines physical activity and exercise as follows:

Intellihealth.com (2006) The Relationship Between Physical Activity And Exercise

The terms physical activity and exercise may seem synonymous, but there are critical differences between the two.

• Physical activity encompasses any movement of the body in which your muscles contract and your metabolism increases. Everything from washing dishes to playing ice hockey falls under this umbrella.
• Exercise is a subcategory of physical activity. It refers specifically to a structured program of activity geared toward achieving or maintaining physical fitness.

And goes on to list the benefits of instituting a program of fitness as:

• Lower risk of early death
• Lower risk of heart disease
• Lower risk of high blood pressure (If your blood pressure is already elevated, you can expect it to drop.)
• Better weight control
• Lower risk of diabetes
• Lower risk of colon cancer
• Increased bone strength
• Improved balance
• Lower risk of depression and anxiety
• Increased energy level and overall sense of well-being

All of which lends itself to longer life spans. By lowering a persons risk of illness and disease and increasing bone density in addition to improving their energy level, overall sense of well being clearly shows that those who exercise will live longer than people that do not. Not listed here but important to note is that increasing ones bone density lowers the risk or osteoporosis a debilitating bone disease which strikes people in later life. Osteoporosis affects 50% more women than men which is significant due to the fact that it is commonly known that women tend to live longer than men. "More than twice as many American women than men live to age 85, and three times as many women live into their nineties, the report in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association said." Stern 2006. So reducing the risk of osteoporosis for women is of significant importance.

In a study conducted of nearly 6000 Japanese American men living in the state of Hawaii over a 40 year period of time found that there are 9 factors that were good predictors of which middle aged men would live healthily into their 80's and beyond. The factors: Not being overweight, having low blood pressure, low blood sugar levels, low levels of bad cholesterol, not drinking alcohol excessively, not becoming overweight, not smoking, having a strong grip, achieving a high level of education, and being married.

" Grip strength, which can be measured by a test, is a strong indication of upper body strength. It is further proof "that it is important to be physically robust in midlife ... consistent with theories of aging that suggest that better built organisms last longer,"

Of the 5,820 original study participants, 2,451, or 42 percent, survived to age 85, and 655 participants, or 11 percent, reached that age without suffering serious health problems such as heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. See fig 1

(fig 1)_

"Your chances were more than 60 percent of being healthy at that age (80) if you avoided these risk factors, yet if you had six or more of these risk factors you had less than a 10 percent chance of living into your mid-80s," (Stern 2006)

The results of the study prove that making healthier lifestyle choices such as modifying your diet, exercising, not drinking, managing your weight, not smoking, and managing stress levels will help a person to expand their life expectancy. Not to mention that these same lifestyle choices do lend themselves to a more robust and happier life.

Selling quick fix diet pills and exercise equipment that doesn't work is a multi-billion dollar a year industry worldwide. While obesity and obesity related illnesses such as heart disease are killing more people per year than AIDS. Though it is widely known that healthier lifestyle choices will improve your life in multiple aspects people are still making the choice not to get the exercise that they need. Hundreds of Thousands of Americans spend millions of dollars each year on diet pills, "magical" exercise devices, and misrepresented health and fitness products, when in all actuality a good set of dumbbells and a brisk walk may be all you need to get in better shape than you've ever been in. Potts (2006) No matter what age or fitness level that you are at now getting more exercise still has many positive benefits. According to Smoots,MD(2006)in an article on exercise as we age:

"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three-fourths of older Americans don't get enough exercise to maintain good health. This presents a problem as the normal aging process slowly takes its toll. With each passing decade after age 50 we lose about 15% of our muscle strength and equivalent amounts of heart function.

These losses come from a combination of factors like poor nutrition, hormone changes, and declining muscle and nerve cells. But the main cause of dwindling independence as we age is usually a sedentary lifestyle.

The good news is that people who begin exercising in their 90s or 100s can still make significant gains in cardiovascular and musculoskeletal fitness. So it's never too late-even if you've been physically inactive all your life-to start reaping the rewards of more exercise. "

At any age or level of ability our bodies need regular physical activity to function well. Here I highlight just a few of the major benefits of exercise:

• Increased muscle mass, strength and flexibility
• Lower body fat, especially in the abdomen
• Higher metabolic rate and less tendency to gain weight
• Improved ability to perform everyday tasks like lifting or cleaning
• Better balance and less risk of falls or fractures
• Increased joint mobility and less arthritic pain
• Decreased risk of many chronic diseases, including:

• • Heart disease (better heart function and cholesterol levels)
  • High blood pressure (improved blood pressure readings)
  • Diabetes mellitus (greater sensitivity to insulin)
  • Depression (reduced fatigue and better mood)
  • Memory problems (improved sleep and thinking ability)
  • Osteoporosis (increased bone density)
  • Cancer (lower risk of some types)
• Increased longevity (decreased death rate from all causes)
• Improved quality of life (greater self-sufficiency and independence)

DISCUSSION

My research clearly shows a correlation between exercise and improved health, longevity, and quality of life. There is no clear reason why obesity and obesity related illness remain so prevalent and why the death toll from these illnesses continues to rise when the solution is so clear and so easily obtained. There are both resources available that are disseminating this information and resources available that outline and offer affordable alternatives to people of every fitness level, yet America remains the fattest country in the world as though they were unaware of the benefits of regular exercise and dietary modification. There is absolutely no authoritative source of information out there that either refutes the benefits or exercise nor disagrees with the commonly held benefits that are derived from regular exercise and healthy lifestyle choices..

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Authors name not given (24 November (2006)) Exercise Helps Elderly Regain Physical Function And Avoid Major Disability Medical News today-Aging news http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=57024&nfid=rssfeeds

Food and Drug Administration (2006) Healthy Lifestyles 11-11-2004http://www.fda.gov/hearthealth/lifestyles/lifestyles.html

Intellihealth.com staff wirter not given (2006) The Relationship Between Physical Activity And Exercise 11-22-06http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH?t=8759&p=~br,IHW|~st,9273|~r,WSIHW000|~b,*|

Lee,Thomas H. MD (2003) How much exercise is enough? Brigham and Women's hospital Retrieved 11-12-2006 www.yahoo.com

Potts, Aaron (2006). Exercise Why you should do it. Weight lifting Information Source, no page given. Retrieved retrieved 11-11-2006, from http://www.abblogger.com/weightliftingresource/2175647

Smoots,MD Elizabeth (2006). Staying in shape as you age. Third age health and wellness, no page given. Retrieved retrieved 11-11-2006, from www.thirdage.com

Stern, Andrew (14 November 2006) Strong grip, staying fit helps men live long Reuters News Wire no page given 11-20-06 http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyid=2006-11-14T190915Z_01_N10395594_RTRUKOC_0_US-AGE.xml