Want to live a long life? Run

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1137903420080812?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

by pavel • 18 years ago

39 54 18 years ago

13ren4• 18 years ago

This story is making the rounds, but as presented, it doesn't distinguish cause and correlation. Maybe the people who enjoy running are the ones who were fit in the first place? eg. if you have bad joints and a bad heart, you probably won't enjoy running much. Therefore, runners are healthier...

Of course, the causation theory is very appealing, and I personally find I feel much better, and have greater intelligence, when I exercise aerobically. I definitely intend to keep at it... and suggest you do too. :-)

EDIT from page 2: "People who took up exercise when they were older also improved their health" - that suggests causation, but it also depends on who took up the exercise. Perhaps the people who responded well to it.

ajross• 18 years ago

The problems are a little more subtle than that, I think. The study was of middle aged runners and non-runners over a 20 year period. It didn't include any elderly, apparently. So the anti-correlation here is between death in middle age (what most people would term "dying early") and running. There is no correlation shown for the lede of the article, which talks about living a "long life". There's evidence that runners don't die young as often, not that they live longer.

As far as causation goes, I don't have too much of a problem with that. The clear hypothesis would be that runners have stronger hearts more capable of dealing successfully with degenerative conditions like heart disease, and therefore they're less likely to die of a very common killer of the middle aged. The hypothesis isn't proven by the data at hand, but is at least very strongly suggested.

sysop073• 18 years ago

This reminds me of:

Dr. House: "Excuse me miss, do you have cancer?" [Woman shakes her head] Dr. House: "Wow. Mango juice prevents cancer"

te_platt• 18 years ago

You are right to not read too much into this study but that doesn't mean it is not worthwhile. An epidemiological study - especially this one with a small sample size and based on self reporting - cannot prove causation. Still, the study should be enough to justify a closer look.

cdr• 18 years ago

My current understanding is that running is way better than no exercise, but that other forms of exercise are quite likely better for your long-term health because of the impact stress running puts on your knees, feet, etc.

wallflower2• 18 years ago

One of the best forms of exercise is swimming. Near zero-impact on joints. For those of you who think they can't learn how to swim, check out Total Immersion's zen-like, go with the water method. (http://www.totalimmersion.net). I learned how to swim freestyle through their video. Most swimming courses emphasize using your arms like paddle wheels to plow through the water, while TI emphasizes swimming much like fish and advanced swimmers do, by propelling from the core. TI is harder to learn but more efficient once you learn by progressing through their balance and core propulsion drills.

acgourley• 18 years ago

That is probably true, but a lot of it depends on the care you take while running.

Advice to anyone who runs on anything besides grass or rubberized tracks: buy expensive running shoes ($80+) fitted to you by a someone who knows what they are doing. A sales person at a specialty running store should be qualified.

Or go barefoot.

steveplace• 18 years ago

They've found higher correlation of intelligence with cardio vs. anaerobic. Although that just may be a function of what kind of person prefers running and swimming as opposed to throwing weights around.

I prefer the latter.

xiaoma2• 18 years ago

From page 2:

"The study also showed that people cannot use the risk of injury as an excuse not to run -- the runners had fewer injuries of all kinds, including to their knees."

In fact, other papers I've read have said that runners and cross-country skiers maintain bone density and joint lubrication into old age, while swimmers and cyclers do not.

kajecounterhack5• 18 years ago

Ah but that has a lot to do with not knowing what shoes to buy. I'm a distance runner, used to get injured a lot, now I wear the right shoes and do 10+ miles a day at 6:00-7:00 mile pace. The key is having a group/friends to run with and enough discipline to do it every day.

Swimming is awesome also, but running is easier to do because you don't need a pool or a club to do it.

rickd2• 18 years ago

This is a very good point. It reminds me of a study I saw years ago that said runners generally also had better dental health. The point illustrated is that runners were more likely to floss! So it wasn't running that directly caused their better dental health, but you could say that it running and flossing have some correlation.

I'll try to dig up a link.

rickd2• 18 years ago

Well, I couldn't find that link... but I did discover something equally interesting along the way: check out http://www.centerforintegrativedentistry.com/gum_disease/ind... and scroll down to the "oxygenation" section.

It seems that the more exercise you get, the more oxygenated your gums are, and (gum disease) germs survive better the less oxygen there is- so marathon runners have an extremely low incidence rate of gum disease! wow.

13ren4• 18 years ago

Intriguingly, bike shops do not sell long sleeve tops (that protect you from sunburn) - but surf shops do. Cyclists have told me that they don't get sunburn - even when cycling in the sun all day. But surfers do get sunburn. I'm not sure what to make of this.

I'm theorizing that cyclists are somehow protected by constant movement (unlike surfers waiting for a wave). Perhaps the airflow is protective? Or perhaps it makes cyclists aerobically fitter, and this makes their skin more resistant to sunburn (and therefore skin cancer).

nraynaud2• 18 years ago

normally, we do a regression on this behavior alone to conclude this. This is epidemiology research, it singles one factor.

swombat• 18 years ago

An element that's missing from this analysis is the quality of that time.

In my experience, doing regular exercise greatly, greatly increases the quality of my life. I feel generally happier, more energetic, more determined, more optimistic, etc.

My mother (over 55) took up cycling up a huge hill every day on her way back from work since a month or so ago, and, predictably, she's reporting the same result. She feels much better than she did before she started cycling up that hill every day.

Doing regular exercise is really a no-brainer. Even as a time-poor start-up founder, the benefits of exercise to your start-up (increased energy, wakefulness, optimism) are huge. The question is not whether you can afford the time to exercise, but whether you can afford not to exercise.

weegee• 18 years ago

run on dirt. run on pavement and you'll wreck your knees.

yummyfajitas• 18 years ago

Run on dirt (except very flat dirt) and you mess up your ankles.

silentbicycle3• 18 years ago

Run on sentences and you mess up your clarity. ;)

kajecounterhack5• 18 years ago

If you're ruining your ankles just from running on dirt, you aren't wearing the right shoes...

gaius2• 18 years ago

This is more accurately stated as run on any surface with inappropriate footwear and injury is more likely.

Harkins• 18 years ago

Except that it actually gives information.

biohacker42• 18 years ago

My memory fades, so take this ancient Greek proverb with a grain of salt:

If you want to be healthy run, if you want to be strong run, if you want to be beautiful run, if you want to be smart run.

And indeed it has been shown that exercise improves mental ability.

silentbicycle3• 18 years ago

This isn't specific to running, of course. Just pick a form of exercise and do it regularly. Being in shape is good for everything.

I don't like running, it makes my knees ache. Now, bicycling on the other hand...

martian• 18 years ago

Agreed, I started bicycling regularly about two years ago, and it has vastly improved my overall health, focus, and drive. Getting sick in the winter used to be the regular course of things -- I'd be knocked out for about a week or so with a cold or flu -- but the regular exercise and exposure to fresh air has kept me healthy in spite of everything. My productivity is higher, and my ideas more focused. I can only imagine the health benefits that would carry through into old age.

There is certainly no silver bullet to living into a healthy old-age, but it seems clear that running, biking, swimming, or any other exercise could only help you. Combined with good diet, social activity, intellectual hobbies, and who knows -- Ray Kurzweil's predictions may come true.

While biking the other day I came across this old dude (probably 70 years old) who was also on a bicycle up in the hills north of San Francisco. He was flying down this major hill, pedaling like mad, and the wackiest grin was on his face. When I'm old, I want to be that dude.

kajecounterhack5• 18 years ago

Hmm I'm a runner and tried biking...but hurt my knees

lol different strokes for different folks!

prakash• 18 years ago

Diet is probably a larger factor than exercising in living a long life. If you have to pick one I would go with diet.

Also, here's a different perspective from Arthur De Vany:

Death by Exercise: The Aging Running Generation: http://www.arthurdevany.com/?p=797

koblas• 18 years ago

That's a fairly inconclusive link, somebody died who led a full life. They accomplished many things and lived their passions.

A interesting tidbit in today's NY Times (AP story) http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/health/AP-MED-Healthy-Obesit... points out that BMI and risk factors are not necessarily connected.

At the end of the day, if you want to live a long life... live healthy. Or: Reduce Stress, Exercise, Eat Well and Smile.

sammyo• 18 years ago

And choose grandparents that lived a long life.

xiaoma2• 18 years ago

According to one 32,000 person study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1999), "fit persons with any combination of smoking, elevated blood pressure, or elevated cholesterol level had lower adjusted death rates than low-fit persons with none of these characteristics". The same study found that aerobic fitness had a far more important impact on longevity than obesity did.

Fantastic Voyage, Kurzweil and Grossman, Chapter 22.

vlad• 18 years ago

The most important feature of exercise is that the participant is not doing something unhealthy in place of it. For example, slowly walking around the neighborhood over a period of two hours is awesome--even if it's low-impact. Slow, low impact exercise benefits everyone, even superstar athletes, even if all it does at that level is simply keep an athlete away from trouble. Same deal for people who are out of shape.

Proceeding along the same line of thought, even slow, low-impact exercise benefits participants in avoiding the reinforcement of unhealthy behavior. Not only is one avoiding a day of a bad habit, but they're helping to completely break the habit, as well.

Next, of course, is that any slow, low-impact exercise helps the body replace previous bad habits with new ones. Future exercise is easier to do. One cannot just break a habit; they must find something else to do in place of it.

What is exercise? One can say that it's an activity that isn't unhealthy, regardless of specific activity. If one can't call an activity "exercise", then very likely, not only is it not neutral, it's specifically unhealthy. Otherwise, it would be called exercise--walking, jogging, dancing, swimming, participating in team sports, strolling, mowing the lawn, working outside, etc. Activities that cannot be described as physical exercise should be replaced with those that can, and they don't have to be super strenuous. I think exercise has evolved to mean "running for twenty minutes a day, three times a week" when it can also be "five hours of any kind of bodily motion every single day."

nraynaud2• 18 years ago

Ok and if you speak French, go running and then tell your mom on http://trainoo.com :-)

kajecounterhack5• 18 years ago

If you exercise you're more likely to be health-conscious about what you eat too, which can contribute to long life.

Just another one of those things.

Want to live a long life? Run

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