Running may not only help you to live longer, but also live free of health problems and disabilities, and it is never too late to start running, a new study has found.
The study, carried out by Stanford University School of medicine, studied the benefits of running on people 50 and older, consisting of a group of runners and non-runners that were monitored over two decades. Based on the study, if you aren't running already you may want to start.
Running helped to widen the gap between the abilities of those in the running group and the non-running group, researchers found. The initial onset of disabilities were seen 16 years later in the runners, than seen in the non-runners group.
After nineteen years into the study, when most participants would have been in their 70's, the national death records indicated that only 15 percent of the runners had passed away, but 34 percent of the non-runners had passed away. Also, even though their time spent running had decreased drastically in later life, researchers were still seeing the benefits from running earlier.
The study's senior author James Fries, M.D., stated "The study has a very pro-exercise message. If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise."
The study not only determined that exercise decreased disabilities as we grow older, but running also reduced deaths caused from cardiovascular problems. Regular running also decreased early deaths from cancer, heart disease, and even Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases, the study found.
Though some feel running may cause stress on joints and muscles, based on the recent study this is not the case. Try to run, but if you are physically unable to run, try to incorporate some form of aerobic exercise in your daily activities and you may feel better and live a longer healthier life.
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