 Study: Elderly should keep exercising - Decline inevitable, but higher aerobic capacity has benefits
Monday, July 25, 2005; Posted: 4:02 p.m. EDT
-- DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- Exercise can't hold off the effects of aging, but it can improve an elderly person's chances of hanging onto an independent lifestyle, researchers said, citing a new study that brought both good and bad news.
A treadmill test given to different age groups showed that as people aged, their aerobic capacity -- the amount of oxygen consumed while exercising -- declined at higher rates with each passing decade whether they exercised or not.
The researchers knew the rate of decline would worsen with age, but they were surprised by the magnitude, said Dr. Jerome L. Fleg, a cardiologist who is lead author of the study and a medical officer at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Maryland.
"I guess we were a little disappointed that regular exercise didn't make a difference in the rate of decline," he said.
However, he pointed out that those who exercise still end up ahead because their aerobic capacity was higher to begin with.
"If I start higher, I'm going to end higher," Fleg said. "Having a higher aerobic capacity translates into being more fit."
For the study published in Monday's online edition of the American Heart Association journal Circulation, researchers analyzed treadmill tests from 435 men and 375 women ages 21 to 87 taking part in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.
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