Monday, November 11, 2019

Any amount of running linked to significantly lower risk of early death

The brain is at the center of your health. Learn how.


Substantial improvements in population health/longevity

likely if more people took it up, say researchers

November 4, 2019
British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Any amount of running is linked to a significantly lower risk
of death from any cause, finds a pooled analysis
of the available evidence, published online in the
British Journal of Sports Medicine.
If more people took up running -- and they wouldn't have to run far or
fast -- there would likely be substantial improvements in population health and
longevity, conclude the researchers.
It's not clear how good running is for staving off the risk of death from
any cause and particularly from cardiovascular disease and cancer,
say the researchers.

Nor is it clear how much running a person needs to do to reap
these potential benefits, nor whether upping the frequency,
duration, and pace -- in other words, increasing the 'dose' --
might be even more advantageous.

To try and find out, the researchers systematically reviewed relevant
published research, conference presentations, and doctoral theses
and dissertations in a broad range of academic databases.

They looked for studies on the association between running/jogging
and the risk of death from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
They found 14 suitable studies, involving 232,149 people,
whose health had been tracked for between 5.5 and 35 years.
During this time, 25,951 of the study participants died.
When the study data were pooled, any amount of running was
associated with a 27% lower risk of death from all causes
for both sexes, compared with no running.
And it was associated with a 30% lower risk of death
from cardiovascular disease, and a 23% lower risk of death from cancer.
Even small 'doses' -- for example, once weekly or less, lasting
less than 50 minutes each time, and at a speed below
6 miles (8 km) an hour, still seemed to be associated
with significant health/longevity benefits.

So running for 25 minutes less than the recommended weekly
duration of vigorous physical activity could reduce the risk of death.
This makes running a potentially good option for those whose main
obstacle to doing enough exercise is lack of time, suggest the researchers.
But upping 'the dose' wasn't associated with a further lowering
of the risk of death from any cause, the analysis showed.
Nevertheless, they suggest that any amount of running is
better than none, concluding: "Increased rates of participation in
running, regardless of its dose, would probably lead to
substantial improvements in population health and longevity."
The brain is at the center of your health. Learn how.



Story Source:
Materials provided by BMJ. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


No comments:

Post a Comment