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Jogging regularly increased life expectancy
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Recent results from the Copenhagen City Heart study showed that men and women who jog regularly increase their life expectancy by about 6 years.
As a substudy of the Copenhagen City Heart study, researchers compared the mortality of 1,116 male and 762 female joggers with nonjoggers in the main study population. Participants answered questions about the amount of time they spent jogging each week and whether their pace was slow, average or fast. Researchers followed participants using a unique personal identification number in the Danish Central Person Register.
During a follow-up period of 35 years, study results showed that 10,158 deaths occurred in the nonjogging group vs. 122 deaths in the jogging group. Jogging reduced death by 44% in both men and women (age-adjusted HR=0.56) and showed an age-adjusted survival benefit of 6.2 years in men and 5.6 years in women. In further analysis, a U-shaped curve was found for the relationship between the time spent exercising and mortality. Overall, participants who jogged at a slow or average pace 1 to 2.5 hours per week during two to three sessions experienced optimum benefits, according to study results.
“The results of our research allow us to definitively answer the question of whether jogging is good for your health,” Peter Schnohr, MD, of Bispebjerg University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, said in a press release. “We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases longevity. The good news is that you don’t actually need to do that much to reap the benefits.”
For more information:
- Schnohr P. #523. Presented at: the EuroPRevent 2012 meeting; May 3-5, 2012; Dublin, Ireland.
Disclosure: Dr. Schnohr reports no relevant financial disclosures.