美国国家公共电台 NPR Exercise Wins: Fit Seniors Can Have Hearts That Look 30 Years Younger

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We know that exercise benefits health - kind of obvious. And we're learning more about that. Researchers find people who exercise regularly throughout their lifetimes may be able to keep their hearts and muscles decades younger. NPR's Patti Neighmond reports on the study published in the Journal of Applied¹ Physiology².

PATTI NEIGHMOND, BYLINE³: It started in the '70s - running, aerobics⁴ - an exercise boon⁵ that produced today's 70-somethings who've exercised most of their adult life like 74-year-old Susan Magrath, a retired⁶ nurse practitioner⁷ who started running as a young mother.

SUSAN MAGRATH: And have spent about 45 years running. I still run.

NEIGHMOND: It's addictive⁸, she says, because no matter how the day goes, she can always run and feel better.

MAGRATH: I ran today actually. There was little snowflakes coming down, and it was down by the river. And it's just wonderful. I think it's also become more of a contemplative meditative⁹ process for me.

NEIGHMOND: And it turns out an important boost for her physical health as well. Magrath was part of a study at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, headed by exercise physiologist¹⁰ Scott Trappe, who divided 70 people into three groups - those in their mid-70s who exercised on average for over 52 years, those in their mid-70s who didn't do structured exercise, and those in their mid-20s who did. Trappe compared the three groups with the goal of answering these questions.

SCOTT TRAPPE: One, what was their cardiovascular health? Number two, what was their skeletal muscle health?

NEIGHMOND: To measure cardiovascular health, all participants cycled on a stationary¹¹ bike for increasingly challenging sessions and exhaled¹² into a mouthpiece that measured oxygen levels, an indicator¹³ of cardiovascular strength.

TRAPPE: Lifelong exercisers did very well. Their cardiovascular system looked more like that of 40- to 45-year-olds.

NEIGHMOND: And when it came to muscles, the news was even better.

TRAPPE: Well, if I showed you the muscle data that we have, you wouldn't know that it was from an older individual.

NEIGHMOND: Because it looks more like the muscles of a 25-year-old. Trappe took pea-sized biopsies of muscles and examined capillaries¹⁴ that produce blood flow and a number of enzymes¹⁵.

TRAPPE: The capillaries and enzymes we're talking about were maintained relative to the young individuals. So it looks like full preservation¹⁶ with the lifelong exercise.

NEIGHMOND: So Trappe says if you want to maintain health in later years, exercise routinely. Walking 30 to 45 minutes most days of the week can be highly beneficial. Patti Neighmond, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF KHURANGBIN'S "PEOPLE EVERYWHERE (STILL ALIVE)")