Daily activities such as DIY or gardening may prolong life by up to 30% in the 60+ age group, a report published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed.
As any committed gardener will confirm, seeing the first shoots of life emerge after the winter months can provide a deep sense of satisfaction.
But gardeners now have another reason to feel rather smug – regular gardening or DIY can cut the risk of a heart attack or stroke, and prolong life by as much as 30% among the 60-plus age group, according to a study of almost 4,000 60-year-olds in Stockholm.
The research found that even those who spent their retirement training for marathons were not at less risk than the green-fingered group. Gardening – voted pensioners' favourite pastime in a recent study byAge UK – provided as many health benefits as regular exercise.
The 60-year-olds who were most active on a daily basis had a 27% lower risk of a heart attack or stroke and a 30% reduced risk of death from all causes, irrespective of how much regular formal exercise was taken.
"Our findings are particularly important for older adults, because individuals in this age group tend, compared with other age groups, to spend a relatively greater proportion of their active day performing [routine activities] as they often find it difficult to achieve recommended exercise intensity levels," the scientists wrote in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Over a 12-year period the team, led by Dr Elin Ekblom-Bak at Karolinska University hospital's department of medicine, asked 60-year-olds for information on diet, smoking and alcohol intake in addition to information on whether they did regular activities such as gardening, DIY, car maintenance and blackberry picking. The researchers also carried out lab tests and physical examinations.
At the start of the study, those who had an active daily life were at much less risk of heart attacks – even if they did not exercise – than those with low levels of daily activity. They also had smaller waists, lower levels of potentially harmful blood fats, and lower glucose, insulin and clotting factor levels in men, high levels of which are linked to a raised heart attack and stroke risk.
The benefits of regular activity continued through the course of the study. During the 12.5-year follow-up period, 476 of the participants had their first heart attack and 383 died from various causes. Those who exercised regularly, but were not routinely physically active, were also at less risk of cardiovascular problems, and those who exercised regularly and were active on a daily basis were at the least risk of all.
The study suggests gardening and DIY can be as good as exercise for the over-60s because they increase overall energy expenditure – prolonged sitting drives down metabolic rate to the bare minimum, while standing up and physical activity increase it. The study went on to explain that sitting down can disrupt the skeletal muscle's normal hormone production, with potential negative impacts on other body organs and tissues.
Dr Gavin Sandercock, reader in sport and exercise science at the University of Essex, said: "'This study is excellent news for large swaths of the population who might not want to run, swim or go to the gym because it clearly shows that even moderate, non-exercise activity like gardening benefits the health of older adults."
But he warned that younger people and children still had to be encouraged to do vigorous exercise like fast walking, running, swimming and cycling. "While the amounts reported here are OK for older people, children still need to do an hour of activity every day to be healthy and that needs to be hard enough to make them breathe hard and preferably feel hot."
Dr Tim Chico, senior clinical lecturer and honorary consultant cardiologist at the University of Sheffield/Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, said the more active a person was throughout their lives, the lower their risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease.
"The message I take from this study is simple," he said. "If you want to reduce your risk of heart disease, be more active. Don't sit down for long periods; get up on your feet and do something you enjoy that involves moving around."
譯文
《英國運(yùn)動(dòng)醫(yī)學(xué)雜志》上發(fā)表的一篇報(bào)道顯示，像手工制作或園藝這樣的日�；顒�(dòng)有可能使60歲以上的人的壽命延長30%。
據(jù)英國《衛(wèi)報(bào)》報(bào)道，任何熱衷園藝的人都會(huì)同意，漫長的冬天過后，看見新芽萌發(fā)的那一刻，他們會(huì)感到很滿足。
但是現(xiàn)在園丁們又有另外一個(gè)值得神氣的理由：一項(xiàng)針對斯德哥爾摩市近4000名60歲老人的研究表明，經(jīng)常從事園藝或手工制作可以降低心臟病發(fā)作或中風(fēng)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，還能使60歲以上的人的壽命延長30%。
研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，即使是那些退休后跑馬拉松的人，患病的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)也沒有比從事園藝的人低。慈善機(jī)構(gòu)AgeUK最近的一項(xiàng)研究表明，園藝是退休老人最喜愛的消遣。園藝同定期鍛煉一樣對人體健康有諸多益處。
無論常期、正式運(yùn)動(dòng)量有多大，60歲老人中每天最活力十足的，心臟病發(fā)作或中風(fēng)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)會(huì)降低27%，因各種原因死亡的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)降低30%。
“我們的發(fā)現(xiàn)對老年人來說尤其重要，因?yàn)楹推渌挲g段的人相比，他們很難達(dá)到專家建議的運(yùn)動(dòng)強(qiáng)度水平，因此習(xí)慣于花相對更多的時(shí)間在日�；顒�(dòng)上。”科學(xué)家在《英國運(yùn)動(dòng)醫(yī)學(xué)雜志》上寫道。
瑞典卡羅林斯卡大學(xué)醫(yī)院醫(yī)學(xué)部的艾琳（Elin Ekblom-Bak）博士帶領(lǐng)一支隊(duì)伍，歷時(shí)12年，詢問了一群60歲老人的各種信息，包括飲食、吸煙、酒精攝入以及是否有參加如園藝、手工制作、汽車維修和黑莓采摘一類的定期活動(dòng)。研究者還進(jìn)行了實(shí)驗(yàn)室測試，對參與者進(jìn)行身體檢查。
實(shí)驗(yàn)初始，那些平時(shí)活力十足的人，即使平常不鍛煉，心臟病發(fā)作的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)也也比平時(shí)活動(dòng)少的人低得多。同時(shí)，他們腰圍更小，潛在有害的血脂更少，男性葡萄糖、胰島素和凝血因子水平更低，這些物質(zhì)水平高的時(shí)候會(huì)提高人心臟病發(fā)作和中風(fēng)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
在整個(gè)研究過程中，定期鍛煉的益處一直都有體現(xiàn)。在12年半的隨訪期內(nèi)，476名參與者心臟病發(fā)作過，383名因?yàn)楦鞣N原因死亡。那些有定期鍛煉，平時(shí)卻懶于活動(dòng)的人，出現(xiàn)心血管問題可能性�。荒切┯卸ㄆ阱憻�，且每天活力十足的人在所有人中患病風(fēng)險(xiǎn)最低。
這項(xiàng)研究表明對于60歲以上的老人來說，園藝、手工制作和鍛煉一樣有益，因?yàn)樗鼈兌寄茉黾诱w身體能耗。長時(shí)間靜坐會(huì)讓身體代謝率降至最低，而站立和體力活動(dòng)能提高代謝率。研究還深入解釋說，靜坐會(huì)擾亂骨骼肌正常激素生成，對身體其他器官組織有潛在的負(fù)面影響。
英國埃塞克斯大學(xué)體育和運(yùn)動(dòng)科學(xué)高級講師加文（Gavin Sandercock）博士說道：“這項(xiàng)研究對很多可能不愿意跑步、游泳或去體育館鍛煉的人來說是大好消息，因?yàn)檠芯壳宄乇砻�，即使像園藝這樣溫和、非運(yùn)動(dòng)性的活動(dòng)都有益于老年人的健康。”
但是他也警告說，還是要鼓勵(lì)年輕人和兒童進(jìn)行劇烈運(yùn)動(dòng)，如快走、跑步、游泳和騎自行車。“盡管報(bào)道中提到的運(yùn)動(dòng)量適合老年人，兒童要保持健康還是得每天運(yùn)動(dòng)一小時(shí)，增加運(yùn)動(dòng)強(qiáng)度，用力呼吸，最好能夠全身發(fā)熱�！�
英國謝菲爾德大學(xué)高級臨床講師，謝菲爾德教學(xué)醫(yī)院心臟病科名譽(yù)顧問蒂姆（Tim Chico）博士表示，一個(gè)人一輩子越是充滿活力，患心血管疾病的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)就越低。
“我從這項(xiàng)研究中得到的啟示很簡單，”他說道，“如果你想要降低患心臟病的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，就得更有活力一點(diǎn)。不要長時(shí)間靜坐；起身做些喜歡的事情，到處轉(zhuǎn)一轉(zhuǎn)�！� |
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