Jog and give your life a boost
Have you been mulling over ways to increase your life expectancy but have not yet determined how? Researchers in Denmark say jogging is the answer. The findings of their Copenhagen City Heart study were presented at the recent EuroPRevent 2012 meeting in Dublin, Ireland. Researchers at the Bispebjerg University Hospital in Denmark say embarking on a regular jogging route could increase life expectancy by 5.6 years for women and 6.2 years for men. Dr Peter Schnohr, who led the research at the Bispebjerg University Hospital, said the study's most recent analysis, which has not been published yet, indicates that a person can help increase their longevity by jogging between 1.0 to 2.5 hours a week at a 'slow' or 'average' pace. 'The results of our research allow us to definitively answer the question of whether jogging is good for your health,' said Dr Schnohr at the 'Assessing prognosis: a glimpse of the future' symposium. 'We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases longevity. The good news is that you don't actually need to do that much to reap the benefits.' Researchers have questioned the benefits of jogging ever since an increasing number of men picked up this activity almost 40 years ago. 'After a few men died while out on a run, various newspapers suggested that jogging might be too strenuous for ordinary middle-aged people,' Dr Schnohr said. Launched in 1976, this study is a prospective cardiovascular population study of around 20 000 men and women aged between 20 and 93. Using data from the Copenhagen Population Register, the researchers compared the mortality of 1 116 male joggers and 762 female joggers to non-joggers. The subjects informed the researchers of how many times they jogged per week, rating their own perceptions of pace: slow, average or fast. 'With participants having such a wide age span, we felt that a subjective scale of intensity was the most appropriate approach,' Dr Schnohr said. Data were collected in the periods from 1976 to 1978, 1981 to 1983, 1991 to 1994 and 2001 to 2003. In a follow-up of the participants, the researchers identified 10 158 deaths that were registered among the non-joggers, and 122 deaths among the joggers. The team found that risk of death shrank by 44% for both male and female joggers. They also discovered that between 1.0 and 2.5 hours a week, undertaken over two to three sessions, delivered the optimum benefits, especially when performed at a slow or average pace. 'The relationship appears much like alcohol intakes,' Dr Schnohr said. 'Mortality is lower in people reporting moderate jogging, than in non-joggers or those undertaking extreme levels of exercise.' He went on to explain how joggers can achieve the ideal pace: 'You should aim to feel a little breathless, but not very breathless.' Besides helping you live longer lives, jogging gives your oxygen uptake a boost, insulin sensitivity intensifies, blood pressure drops, cardiac function improves and weight levels drop, among other benefits. The European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (EACPR), which is a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), organised EuroPRevent 2012, which was held from 3 to 5 May.For more information, please visit: EuroPRevent 2012:http://www.escardio.org/congresses/europrevent-2012/scientific-programme/Pages/welcome.aspxEuropean Society of Cardiology (ESC):http://www.escardio.org/Pages/index.aspx
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