Another study sees link between exercise and living long life

SHARE Another study sees link between exercise and living long life

Exercise! It might just slow down the aging process. And it looks like the middle ages is a critical time to get that body moving.

That’s the message from a new study that New York Times reporter Gretchen Reynolds wrote about late last week.

Reynolds explains how scientists are measuring the true age of our cells by the length of the telomeres within. Think of telomeres like the little plastic toppers at the end of shoelaces, she says. Just like those lace toppers, as telomeres age they wear out. But scientists now are seeing that exercise blunts the decaying of the telomeres and puts off the aging process.

In the study, researchers at the University of Mississippi and the University of California, San Francisco looked at exercise and its impact on telomeres on a large sampling of individuals. Some 6,500 persons were involved; they were as young as 20 and as old as 85. In the survey, the participants were asked whether they’d done different exercises — running, weight training, walking, for example — during the previous month. For each bout of exercise completed, they received a point. Their totals were then compared with their telomere length.

Basically, the study found that the more and varied exercise a person completed, the less worn the telomeres were. The link was strongest in persons who were between 40 and 65, suggesting that moving your body — or even starting to exercise — during these years was particularly important, according to Reynolds.

The researchers involved were quick to point out that the study just shows an association, and they couldn’t say how much exercise individuals needed to do to keep telomeres in good shape. The study didn’t say that longer telomeres meant better health,  Reynolds points out.

Still, one of the researchers told Reynolds that the study does show that a variety of exercise done regularly does seem to have a strong link to longevity. And, there was no evidence the exercise had to be particularly vigorous, either. 

For too long too many of us have thought the value of exercise was to give us washboard abs and memorable butts. That’s all fine and good, but the real value is getting us to old age with our mobility and agility intact. And if you were too busy in your earlier years to work out, it looks like you can still reap the benefits if you begin — and stick with it — in middle age.

So you know what you have to do today: Move!


The Latest
The man was found unresponsive in an alley in the 10700 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.