Category: Running
An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences highlights the potential effects of aerobic activity on the brain. The researchers found that running in increased memory and the creation of new nerve cells in mice.
A study in the March 6 issue of the journal BMJ finds that men who increase their level of physical activity after age 40 had lower risk of death after 35 years. The study was completed in Sweden by researchers at Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institute. The change in mortality still held true in statistical models that included things that might be related to someone exercising, such as smoking, weight, self-reported health, and alcohol use. Those who had the lowest level of physical activity had greater risk of dying over the 35-year follow-up.
The authors studied a group of 2,841 men (yes, men only) who were born between 1920 and 1924 in the area around Uppsala, Sweden. They were followed up on several occasions, the most recent in 2006. At the end of the study, 20% more of the men in the most active group were still alive compared to men in the least active group. Again, this was after controlling for a number of variables that might have also been different in the two groups.
Most interesting to me was how activity levels were defined. The researchers asked participants only four questions. The first asked whether the man spent most of his time reading, watching TV, or engaged in sedentary activities. Persons who answered yes were placed in the lowest activity group. The second question asked whether the man walked or bicycled freqently for pleasure. Persons answering yes to this question were in the middle group. The last two questions asked whether the men participated regularly in sports or other active recreational sport, and whether they engaged regularly in hard physical training. People who answered yes to either of these questions were placed in the high activity group.
People in the lowest activity had the highest chances of dying in the followup period, while those in the middle activity group had an intermediate risk of death. Those in the highest activity level group had the lowest risk of death.
Based on this study, almost any increase in physical activity is probably beneficial. Many other studies have shown that increasing physical activity helps you lose weight, makes it more likely that you’ll quit smoking, and means that you’ll feel better about your health. This study is new in showing that the health benefits of exercise may have effects that last a lifetime.
This article is freely available on the Web at the BMJ site: Click here to view the abstract. You can read the entire article by clicking on the words “Full Text” at the upper left of the page.
The New York Times has a nice article today about distance runner Matt Carpenter who at age 44 is training for more altitude distance runs. As the article points out, he set a record for the Pike’s Peak Marathon in territory where visitors are warned about respiratory problems. After a career that appeared to fade, he won six races last year. With a resting heart rate of 33 bpm and a VO2 max better than Lance Armstrong’s, Matt is a pretty impressive athlete.
Here’s a link to the article on the Times’ web site:
Latest
- Meditation as Brain Training
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Mindfulness meditation as practiced over a long period by experts makes clear changes in someone’s brain function. But what about those of us who don’t have a few years to sit in a monastery in the Himalayas? A new study shows that even brief meditation practice can improve attention.
I saw an interesting blog post yesterday evening on the site of the Huffington Post about the potential benefits of meditation – or at least about what one woman thinks might be the benefits. (more…)
Although many people are excited about the potential for using computers to train their brains, we shouldn’t forget that other techniques have been used to the train the brain for many centuries. I’m thinking about the large number of techniques for meditation. While free computer software still requires an investment in a computer, meditation only asks you to sit or lie quietly and focus your mind.
A recently-published study shows parts of the brain in long-term meditators are larger than the same parts of the brain in people who don’t meditate. The article by Eileen Luders and her colleagues appeared in a recent issue of the journal Neuroimage (Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 672-678, April 15, 2009). The study showed that portions of the orbitofrontal cortex and the hippocampus were larger in persons who had been regular meditators for 5 or more years. The study is interesting because the parts of the brain that were larger are often thought to be important in helping people keep themselves emotionally balanced.
A number of strategies are likely to be helpful for meditators. There has been a great deal of interest over the last several years in mindfulness meditation. Researchers have studied how it can be used in reducing anxiety and depression. Mindfulness is based on Buddhist meditation (for a brief article, click here) but you don’t have to be a Buddhist to practice meditation. In fact, one of the most important persons who has promoted mindfulness is Jon Kabat-Zinn, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts. You can see a video presentation by him on YouTube by clicking here.