Scholars at University of California San Diego School of Medicine made a statement that elderly women who sit for more than 10 hours a day with low physical movement have cells that are biologically older by eight years equated to women who are less inactive.
The Link Between Aging And Sedentary Lifestyle Or Sitting For 10 Hours Per Day Found
The study, published in an online on January 18 in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found elderly women with less than 40 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per day and who remain sitting for more than 10 hours per day have littler telomeres -- tiny caps found on the ends of DNA strands, like the plastic tips of shoelaces, that protect chromosomes from declining and gradually shorten with age.
As a cell ages, its telomeres unsurprisingly shorten and fray, but health and lifestyle factors, such as obesity and smoking, may hasten that process. Condensed telomeres are connected to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and major cancers.
"Our study found cells age faster with a sedentary lifestyle. In order age doesn't always match biological age," said Aladdin Shadyab, PhD, lead author of the study with the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
The Combination Of Sedentary Time And Exercise Can Impact The Aging Biomarker
Approximately 1,500 women, ages 64 to 95, participated in the study. The women are part of the larger Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a national, the study investigating the determinants of chronic diseases in post-menopausal women. The participants completed surveys and wore an accelerometer on their right hip for seven successive days during waking and sleeping hours to track their activities.
"We found that women who sat longer did not have shorter telomere if they exercised for at least 30 minutes a day, the national recommended guideline," said Shadyab. "Discussions about the benefits of exercise should start when we are young, and working out should continue to be part of our daily lives as we get older, even at 80 years old."
Shadyab said, that the future studies will observe how exercise relates to telomere length in younger people and in men. A study found that those two spent more than six hours a day sitting down were 10 per cent more likely to grow the disease compared to those who sat for less than three hours.
Steven Ward, executive director of UK Active, said sedentary routines were sending the ageing crisis "into overdrive. "With health and social care budgets overextended to the limit, it's time to end our love affair with the chair and get people heart-rending again," he said.
"Health professionals need more support in signposting older patients toward activities, while care and elderly homes should consider work out plans to get residents moving and reduce social isolation. "It's never too late to get active and simple things at home such as carrying the foodstuffs, climbing more stairs, and pottering around the garden can play a huge role in staying healthy and independent as we get older.
"But whatever age we are, keeping vigorous is the surest way to look after our physical, mental, and social health, adding life to our years and years to our life."
