Physical activity and aging intervention
Hiroshi Shimokata
Department of
Epidemiology, National Institute for Longevity Sciences (NILS)
The World
Health Organization (WHO) defined physical activity as any bodily movement
produced by skeletal muscle that requires energy expenditure. The WHO recommended that individuals
engage in adequate levels of physical activity throughout their lives to
benefit their health. Regular participation in physical activity can also
minimize the many physiological changes with aging. The physiological functions which may be
improved by physical activity are cardiovascular function, metabolic rate,
total energy expenditure, thermic effect of meals, total body water, total body
potassium, nitrogen and calcium, protein synthesis rate, amino acid uptake into
skeletal muscle, nitrogen retention and protein turnover, gastrointestinal
transit time, and appetite and energy intake decrease with age. As for the
lipoprotein metabolism, physical activity improves lipoprotein lipase activity
and lipoprotein profile of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL
cholesterol. Regular physical activity is an important and potent protective
factor for dementia in elderly persons. Preventive effects of physical activity
were also reported in amnestic mild cognitive impairment. The antidepressant
effect of physical activity has been of increasing interest in recent years.
Several studies have indicated that the benefits of exercise are not restricted
to experimental studies for moderately or clinically depressed persons. Regular
participation in physical activity increases longevity and decreases the risk
of many common chronic diseases. Physical activity is the most efficient mean
for prevention of aging process and age-related diseases. In this review, we
will show the epidemiological evidence of these effects of physical activity
including our results from the National Institute for Longevity Sciences -
Longitudinal Study of Aging (NILS-LSA) started in 1997 in
Key words: aging,
longitudinal study, physical activity, mortality cognition