Postponed Development of Disability in Elderly Runners

Abstract

Running and other aerobic exercise in elderly persons protect against disability and early mortality, and are associated with prolongation of a disability-free life.

Effects of Aging and Exercise on the Cardiorespiratory Fitness of Older Women

“…These findings were investigated longitudinally (over 13 years) by Wang et al 6 The study sample consisted of 961 individuals classified as runners and nonrunners (who had never run), with an initial age of 50-72 years. Aiming to determine the degree to which disability could be delayed, the study compared the development of such disabilities between the groups, finding that the runners group delayed this process by approximately 8.7 years (CI 95% 5.5 to 13.7) compared to the nonrunners group.…”

“…The results indicate that regular physical exercise, or in this case, predominantly aerobic exercise, can delay the onset of disability, morbidity and mortality, influencing the quality of life of individuals, as disability is linked to the condition of independently performing activities of daily living. 6,15,25 Chronic diseases are indirectly related to CRF. The CRF of elderly women suffering from two and three chronic diseases was 15% and 23% (as measured by maximal oxygen uptake in a maximum treadmill test using a metabolic analyzer, measuring gas exchange with each breath) lower, respectively, than those who did not have any chronic disease.…”

“…9,10 Low levels of CRF represent one of the main risk factors for obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, metabolic and cardiovascular disease and dependency. 6,[11][12][13][14][15] The arguments presented highlight the need to improve knowledge of the effects of chronological aging on the CRF of the elderly. However, studies previously conducted for this purpose have presented some limitations, such as discrepancies in the values of declining CRF.…”

“…These results clearly indicate that the maintenance of regular physical exercise minimizes the effect of aging on CRF, and the reduction or absence of exercise dramatically increases the decline in CRF. Consequently, active individuals tend to reduce morbidity and also delay the onset or limitations of disability 6 and thus may have a lower biological than chronological age.…”

Occult Acetabular Fracture in an Elderly Runner

“…A recent longitudinal study reported on individuals up to the age of 72. 68 However, there are other reports that include elderly runners beyond age 72 in various physiological 14,70 and biomechanical studies. 38 There is also little in the current literature that examines the reliability and validity of many of the commonly used clinical tests and measures for the hip.…”