Pensioners could keep illness at bay if they took up walking, running, swimming, cycling and even hiking, according to researchers in the United States who compared two groups of middle-aged men and women for 14 years while monitoring their exercise habits and health.
One group belonged to the Fifty-Plus Runners Association, which has members across the United States, while the other was recruited randomly from the local community in Stanford, Calif.
Levels of pain in all 866 participants were measured at yearly intervals.
The researchers found that, as expected, pain increased in both groups as they got older.
But the runners experienced 25 percent less muscle and joint pain than the control volunteers.
This trend was seen throughout the study period, until the participants reached an age of 62 to 76 years of age.
The findings were published recently in the online journal, Arthritis Research & Therapy. The scientists, led by Dr. Bonnie Bruce, from Stanford University, wrote, "Exercise was associated with a substantial and significant reduction in pain ... despite the fact that fractures, a significant predictor of pain, were slightly more common among the runners."
On average, most of the Runners Association group did between 355 and 2,119 minutes of exercise per week.
Volunteers listed their participation in different kinds of activity including running, jogging, swimming, cycling and hiking.
They rated their pain and stiffness on a scale of one to 100.
Sedentary lifestyles have previously been associated with more injury pain, lower bone density and reduced muscle tone.
On the other hand, some aerobic activities such as running have been found to increase the risk of fractures.
The new research suggests that even taking into account the greater likelihood of fractures, exercise leads to less pain in old age.
The researchers adjusted for factors such as gender, age, weight and health status which might have influenced the results.
They wrote, "The primary finding from this investigation is that while pain does increase with age in subjects in all study groups, there was no progressive increase in musculoskeletal pain in older adults who participated in regular vigorous exercise, including running, compared with those who did not.
"Initial differences favoring exercisers were shown to be maintained over time.
"As pain and disability are linked, our findings add to the evidence that morbidity (illness) associated with aging can be reduced by participating in regular aerobic activity."
Source: The Belfast News Letter. Powered by Yellowbrix.
