As a physiotherapist working in Lichfield and traveling across Staffordshire I see a lot of older clients and a common series of questions that I get asked are: Is it safe for me to exercise? What are the benefits and how hard should I exercise? Other clients when I suggest that exercise is good for them will straight away say that they are too old. So I have decided to write a series of blogs to cover and try to answer some of these questions. As the subject of exercise, its health benefits and benefits for people of all ages is a massive subject this will likely take quite a few blogs.

Before answering directly the questions above it is worth taking a bit of time in this blog to look at the background health issues the UK is facing (this is where I get to stand on my soapbox – as most physios like to do!).

Firstly as most people know the UK’s population is aging with approximately 1/5 of people now thought to be over the age of 60 (DoH 2001) and life expectancy rising for both men and women (DoH 2010b). This trend currently shows no signs of stopping and is predicted to continue for the foreseeable future; this aging population is going to have a significant impact on the overall health of the nation and the financial burden that the NHS (and us the taxpayers) will have to shoulder in the future.

But why? I hear you ask – well as most people know general  activity levels tend to decline with age (we will look at some of the reasons for this later) and only 19% of 65-74yrs and 7% of 75+ yrs achieve the recommended levels of daily physical activity (DoH 2010a) – the figures for the rest of the population are also not good. Inactivity and low levels of exercise have been shown to have clear links to a wide range of chronic illnesses such as stroke, heart disease, diabetes and depression (DoH 2011; WHO 2011). So as people age, there is a tendency to reduce the level of exercise they do and so they expose themselves to an increasing risk of the illnesses above. This inactivity and lack of exercise is estimated to cost the NHS approximately £1bn per year (DoH 2009) through surgery, medicines and staffing costs, which seems like a large amount of money to me! Pretty depressing stuff I know but there is also extremely strong evidence that the risk and incidence of these diseases can be reduced by exercising and increasing activity levels (WHO 2011).

Well that is a very brief summary of the general background, the next blog post will look in more detail at some of the specific benefits of exercise for older people and why some of the disease processes above have been linked to a lack of exercise.

Just to remind anyone who has just come across this blog: we are a home visit physiotherapy service based in Lichfield and serving Staffordshire and the Midlands. If you live anywhere within a 45 minute drive of Lichfield such as Solihull, Four Oaks, Aldridge, Stafford, Rugeley, Shenstone, Walsall, Derby, Burton and Cannock to name but a few places that we provide physiotherapy, sports massage, rehabiltation and myofascial release to. As per usual if you want any further information about physiotherapy, pain, injuries, rehabilitation, sports massage or myofascial release then give us a call on 07884 281623, email us at enquiries@threespiresphysiotherapy.co.uk or use the contact form.

References:

Department of Health (2001) National Service Framework for Older people London: HMSO

Department of Health (2009) Be Active, Be Healthy: A Plan for Getting the Nation Moving. London: HMSO

Department of Health (2010a) Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS London: HMSO

Department of Health (2010b) Our Health and Wellbeing London: HMSO

Department of Health (2011) Start Active, Stay Active: A report on physical activity from the four home countries’ Chief Medical Officers London: HMSO

World Health Organisation (2011) Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health Available from http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2010/9789241599979_eng.pdf