Increased Exercise in Later Life Also Reduces Mortality Risk

A new study has found that men who increase their level of exercise later in life can bring their mortality risk into line with their counterparts who have constantly exercised.

Researchers at Uppsala University (Sweden) conducted a study of 2,205 men who were aged 50 years between 1970 and 1973, and who had been followed up at 60, 70, 77, and 82 years to examine how a change in the level of physical activity after middle age influences mortality, and to concomitantly compare the results of an increase in level exercise to the effect of smoking cessation.

The researchers found that in groups with low, medium, and high levels of physical activity, the absolute mortality rate was 27.1, 23.6 and 18.4 per 1,000 person-years, respectively. Men who increased their level of exercise between the ages of 50 and 60 did not have a lower mortality rate for the first five years, but after 10 years their risk of dying was the same as that of men who had been in the high physical activity group all along. The study was published online on March 5, 2009 in BMJ.

"An increase in physical activity has the same impact on lowering mortality rate in the long term as smoking cessation. Thus, efforts for promotion of physical activity, even among middle-aged and older men, are important,” said lead author Liisa Byberg, Ph.D., and colleagues of the department of surgical sciences. "The effects in other age groups and in women need to be studied. Mechanisms and reasons for an active choice to change physical activity are not fully understood.”

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