Regular running increases life expectancy by 6,2 years for men and 5,6 years for women. The latest analyzes of the results of the Danish population survey were discussed at EuroPRevent 2012 in Dublin.
In terms of life expectancy, the greatest benefits come from running one to 2,5 hours a week at a slow or moderate pace, noted Peter Schnohr, chief cardiologist at the Copenhagen City Heart Study, after analyzing multi-year population data.
The debate about jogging’s health effects began in the 70s – after several men died while jogging, and various newspapers suggested jogging might be too exhausting for ordinary middle-aged people, remembers Schnohr.
Not much later, in 1976, the Copenhagen City Heart study started. It is a survey of around 20 people spread over time. men and women between the ages of 20 and 93. The data from the research goes to the Copenhagen Population Register, and allows to increase the knowledge on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and strokes. As a result, over 750 specialist articles have been published, over time on an increasing number of diseases, incl. heart, lung, allergies, epilepsy, dementia, sleep apnea and genetic diseases. It also allowed us to study the relationships between longevity and various types of exercise and other factors.
To test the impact of jogging on life expectancy, researchers studied a group of men and women jogging, and a group of people not running but representing a cross-section of the population. All participants answered questions such as how much time per week they spend running and how they rate their own pace (defined as slow, medium or fast). At the same time, scientists monitored these groups for mortality.
The first such data were collected in the years 1976-1978, and the next ones – in the early 80s, 90s and the beginning of the 35st century. Participants were also observed later. It turned out that over time (maximum within 10 years from the first study), 158 people died in the group not practicing jogging, and among the runners – 122. The analyzes also showed that the risk of death among running men and women decreased by 44% ., and that jogging increased life expectancy by several years. The respondents, running men lived 6,2 years longer, women – 5,6 years longer.
According to the authors of the analyzes, the greatest health benefits come from a jogging pace that makes us a bit breathless. However, it is not about being completely out of breath.
The results of our study make it possible to definitively answer the question of whether jogging is healthy, says Schnohr. – We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases life expectancy. The good news is, it doesn’t really take much to harvest.
Schnohr reminds that jogging promotes health also in other ways – it oxygenates the body, increases bone density and insulin sensitivity, improves the heart and the immune system, in addition, it has a good effect on the right proportion of fats, lowers blood pressure, reduces platelet aggregation, prevents obesity and it’s good for the psyche.