LETTER
Running and the Development of Disability with Age
Donald Venes
15 March 1995 | Volume 122 Issue 6 | Page 475
TO THE EDITOR:
The risks and benefits of regular vigorous exercise are revisited in the observational report by Fries and colleagues [1]. In their ongoing comparison between the members of a self-selected running club and a Stanford University lipid study group, the authors report that runners have less disability and lower mortality as they age than do staff and faculty members who do not run. However, there is a hitch.
The data presented clearly show that the university control group increased its total burden of vigorous exertion from 77.3 minutes per week in 1984 to 124.1 minutes per week 8 years later (an increase of 61%). By contrast, the total weekly time for gifted athletes in the running club decreased from 301.4 minutes in 1984 to 278.8 minutes in 1992 (a decrease of vigorous exertion of 7.5%). Rather than suggesting that running is good for aging men and women, these data may indicate that increased indulgence in strenuous exercise late in life may be rewarded with increased injury. Until prospective, controlled trials of exercise are done, we may not know whether vigorous exercise incapacitates, heals, or merely entertains [2, 3].
1. Fries JF, Singh G, Morfeld D, Hubert HB, Lane NE, Brown BW Jr. Running and the development of disability with age. Ann Intern Med. 1994; 121:502-9.
2. Curfman GD. The health benefits of exercise: a critical reappraisal. N Engl J Med. 1993; 328:574-5.
3. Koplan JP, Powell KE, Sikes RK, Shirley RW, Campbell CC. An epidemiologic study of the benefits and risks of running. JAMA. 1982; 248:3118-21.
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