There's an interesting article in the British newspaper, The Daily Express this week, which I haven't caught anywhere in the U.S. media. It centers on research done over the past 24 years by Professor James Fries from the University of California, Stanford.
Fries and his colleagues compared 284 members of a national running club and 156 healthy, but non-running, individuals - all aged 50 or older at the start of the study.
After 19 years, one in three of the non-runners had died, but less than one in six of the runners had.
After 21 years, both groups had become more disabled, but disability came 16 years later for the runners.
Fries comments, "We did not expect this. The health benefits of exercise are greater than we thought." Running not only appeared to slow the rate of heart and artery-related deaths but also early deaths from cancer, neurological disease, infections and other causes.
Contrary to common belief, there was also evidence that running does not wear out knee and hip joints.
All-round good news for those of us who have taken up this form of activity and hopefully further incentive for anyone considering it.
