Benefit of Cycling as Aging Progresses: Stronger Immune System, Muscle Tissue 30 Years Young
Robert V sent along this interesting article, which dovetail with my sense if it all, which I’ve mentioned for years now—I hardly ever get sick, and when I do I recover very rapidly.
Cycling keeps your immune system young, study finds
Cycling can hold back the effects of ageing and rejuvenate the immune system, a study has found.
Scientists carried out tests on 125 amateur cyclists aged 55 to 79 and compared them with healthy adults from a wide age group who did not exercise regularly. The 'miracle pill': how cycling could save the NHS.
The findings, outlined in two papers in the journal Aging Cell, showed that the cyclists preserved muscle mass and strength with age while maintaining stable levels of body fat and cholesterol. In men, testosterone levels remained high.
More surprisingly, the anti-ageing effects of cycling appeared to extend to the immune system.
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“However, importantly, our findings debunk the assumption that ageing automatically makes us more frail. Our research means we now have strong evidence that encouraging people to commit to regular exercise throughout their lives is a viable solution to the problem that we are living longer but not healthier.”
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What’s the point of living a long time if one’s body is not functioning well, so that living becomes incapacity and/or suffering and/or deprived of simply joys?
See also:
- Loss of muscle mass in older age correlates strongly with loss of nerves
- Major features of immunesenescence, including reduced thymic output, are ameliorated by high levels of physical activity in adulthood
- How exercise in old age prevents the immune system from declining
- Typical American Diet Can Damage Immune System
- Stanford Medicine: Weight flux alters molecular profile
- Blood exerts a powerful influence on the brain
- Sleep Affects Many Aspects of Physiology
- Nanopollutants Harm Vessel Health