Physical activity and aging intervention

 

Hiroshi Shimokata

Department of Epidemiology, National Institute for Longevity Sciences (NILS)

National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology (NCGG)

 

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 Japan.

 

Key words: aging, longitudinal study, physical activity, mortality cognition