JAMA sub-issue: 270,000 people were followed up for 12 years: exercise can reduce cardiovascular and cancer risks!

People who are actively exercising have a lower risk of death

Although there is strong evidence that physical activity has a beneficial role in longevity, there is little insight into how engaging in the same amount of different leisure-time activity types (such as running and cycling) is associated with mortality risk, and whether some activities compare to others There are greater benefits that are poorly understood

Previous prospective studies investigating different types of activities were based on younger populations and may not generalize to older adults

The cohort participants were respondents from the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study who completed follow-up questionnaires between 2004 and 2005

Ultimately, a total of 272 550 subjects (157 415 men [58%]; mean [SD] age at baseline, 70.

The shapes of the associations of overall leisure-time physical activity with all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality risk were curvilinear, with smaller magnitudes of cancer mortality associations observed

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Each activity showed a curvilinear dose-response association with mortality risk; for any given activity type, weekly low MET hours of physical activity were associated with a significant reduction in mortality risk, with gains for each increase in activity thereafter decrease

This meta-analysis of more than 270,000 older adults with a mean follow-up of 12 years showed that participating in any of these leisure time physical activity types had a benefit in reducing the risk of death, including cardiovascular and cancer mortality, in older adults

Original source:

Watts EL, Matthews CE, Freeman JR, et al.