Exercise Routine 'Reduces' Elderly Heart Disease Risk

Main Category: Heart Disease
Also Included In: Seniors / Aging;  Sports Medicine / Fitness
Article Date: 30 Dec 2004 - 12:00 PST


Older people can cut heart disease and diabetes risks through regular exercise and weight loss, according to a new study.

Research by Johns Hopkins University found that people between the ages of 55 and 75 can offset the risks of metabolic syndrome, which increases heart disease and diabetes risks by reducing body fat.

The study which was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine monitored 100 people between the ages of 55 and 75 over a six month period and found that while regular exercise improved fitness levels, reductions in metabolic syndrome were linked to body fat and muscularity, opposed to fitness.

Kerry Stewart, professor of medicine and director of clinical exercise physiology and heart health programs at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Heart Institute outlined the dangers of metabolic syndrome and the importance of regular exercise.

"Older people can benefit greatly from exercise, especially to reduce their risk for developing metabolic syndrome.

"Our results show that this population can be motivated to follow through with a moderate exercise programme, and for some risk factors, such as abdominal fat, exercise can be as effective as what is accomplished today with drugs."

Before the trial started 43 per cent of the individuals had metabolic syndrome, yet after the six-month exercise routine for the study, this figure had dropped by 18 per cent.

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