New study finds that exercise increases life span!
A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (November 2005) found that people who exercise regularly can increase their life spans by almost four years.
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Researchers examined the records of more than 5000 adults.
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People who engaged in a moderate level of activity (for example, walking for 30 minutes a day, five days a week) increased their life expectancy by about 1.3 to 1.5 years.
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People who engaged in a high level of activity (for example, running for 30 minutes a day, five days a week) increased their life expectancy by about 3.5 to 3.7 years.
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People who exercised more also lived more years of their lives free of cardiovascular (heart) disease.
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Researchers think the increase in life expectancy is due to a decrease in the development of heart disease.
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Men and women benefitted about equally from increased exercise.
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Even for people who are already middle-aged, increasing levels of physical activity can increase life expectancy!
Click here to read an abstract (summary) of the article.
