Twins who exercise live longer than sibs
A new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) demonstrates that even when you take genetic and other familial factors into account, regular physical activity can help you live longer.
The JAMA article, which appeared in the Feb. 11, 1998, issue, reported on a study of nearly 16,000 Finnish Twins, ages 25 to 64, from 1977 through 1994. Those who reported exercising at least six times per month for 30 minutes with an intensity that equaled vigorous walking were classified as conditioning exercisers; those who reported no leisure activity were classified as sedentary; and other individuals were classified as occasional exercisers.
What the researchers called the "hazard ratio" for death, adjusted for age and sex, was .71 in occasional exercisers and .57 in conditioning exercisers, compared with those who were sedentary. Among the twin pairs who were healthy at baseline (1977) and died at different ages, the odds ratio for death was .66 in occasional exercisers and .44 in conditioning exercisers compared with those who were sedentary. The researchers reported that the beneficial effect of physical activity remained even after controlling for other predictors of mortality.
"These findings provide evidence suggesting that, even after familial factors are considered, exercise and physical activity have a powerful beneficial influence in reducing mortality," writes Phil B. Fontanarosa, MD, JAMA senior editor, in an accompanying editor's note.
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