Mid-age fitness is the key to a longer life, says a new study

While you may think what a bicycle ergometer’s reading can do to you, apparently, it can be an indicator to a longer and healthier life.

Sudhakar Jha | Published: August 22, 2018 12:55 pm

A new analysis suggests that good fitness level in your middle age – between 40 to 50 years of age – can predict extra years of life. In a study from Copenhagen that included more than 5000 men without known cardiovascular disease were assessed for cardiorespiratory fitness at their workplaces and the scientists came to the conclusion of fitness being an indicator of a longer life.

During the study, a single measurement of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) showed a positive effect on life longevity. Individuals with VO2max in the highest 5 per cent range lived about 5 years longer than those in the bottom 5 per cent. Also, those who were in the in the “normal” range also lived longer than those in the bottom fitness tier.

Survival for the guys, who averaged 49 years when they took the fitness test, was adjusted for possible variables like age, self-reported physical activity levels, smoking and alcohol intake. It was also adjusted for body mass index (BMI).

The analysis looked at 5107 healthy men aged 40 to 59 years who were recruited at workplaces in Copenhagen from 1970 to 1971 to undergo a bicycle-ergometer fitness examination. During a 46-year follow-up, 4700 (92 per cent) members of the group had died and the rate of death from cardiovascular causes was about 42 per cent.

“One criticism of the study might be that it didn’t look at CRF over time,” said Magnus T. Jensen, MD, PhD, Copenhagen University Hospital Herlev-Gentofte, Hellerup, Denmark, for theheart.org, Medscape Cardiology.

“But if you see it a different way, it really shows how strong it is, that if you measure your fitness level just one time during your middle age, it gives you a significant piece of information about your health status,” said Jensen. Granted, it’s a 1970s-era population, “but it does give one an idea of what does it mean to be in bad shape, and the impact in terms of longevity.”

Importantly, Jensen added that the results were very similar in the second analysis that excluded the 361 men who had died within the first decade.

Image source: Shutterstock

Published: August 22, 2018 12:55 pm

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