Just 25 minutes of brisk walking a day could add up to seven years to your life, according to health experts speaking at the European Society of Cardiology congress. Researchers from Saarland University in Germany found that regular moderate exercise can reduce ageing and halve the risk of dying from a heart attack.
Professor Sanjay Sharma of St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said that for people in their 50s and 60s, moderate exercise cuts the risk of fatal heart attack by half. 'Exercise buys you three to seven additional years of life. It is an anti-depressant, it improves cognitive function and there is now evidence that it may retard the onset of dementia,' he added.
The study introduced a group of non-exercising but healthy non-smokers to a staged exercise programme. Over six months, researchers measured telomerase activity and senescence marker p16 in the blood, showing that regular exercise triggered anti-ageing processes. Endurance and high-intensity interval training were found to be more efficient than strength training alone.
Even those starting exercise at age 70 were less likely to develop atrial fibrillation, a common rhythm disturbance. Professor Christi Deaton from the University of Cambridge said, 'The more active you are, and it doesn’t matter when you start, the more benefit you are going to have.'
