Welcome back yet again to a series of articles here at ThreeSpires Physiotherapy that I am writing about the effects of exercise and the benefits it has as you age and why you should continue exercising no matter how old you are. Last time we covered some of the specific benefits of exercise for the elderly such as a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease and high blood pressure. This time we shall look in detail at some more benefits such as improved mobility, decreased risk of osteoporosis, delaying dementia, improving cognitive ability and reducing the symptoms of depression.

Before we continue I want to again emphasise the fact that this is a complicated area and this blog aim only to give a general overview. If you want further information, look at the reference list at the bottom and google the articles, that will certainly give you enough to keep busy for a while.

Osteoporosis (thinning and brittle bones) is a key risk for many adults and especially elderly females who are at an increased risk of hip fractures from falls. Weight bearing exercise has been clearly linked to improvements in bone density and reduced risk of osteoporosis (Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee 2008). Basically by doing some simple weight bearing exercise such as going for a walk you will lower your risk of ending up in an orthopaedic ward waiting for a hip operation because you have broken it!

If you look at many elderly people (especially those in hospital) you will notice that they seem to not have much muscle and many seem particularly frail. Many elderly people end up in hospital because they have fallen over due to muscle weakness and many struggle to return home after a minor illness because they lack the necessary strength to be mobile. Now obviously if you have spent an extended period in hospital after a serious illness it is understandable to look and feel weak but this doesn’t explain why so many elderly people fall over or lose mobility after a minor illness. Much of this is due to loss of muscle mass (sarcopaenia) – now before anyone emails me – I am aware I am simplifying a complicated and multi-factorial issue, however many of these problems certainly stem from a lack of strength and muscle mass. A frightening statistic is that sedentary individuals are likely to lose 1-2% of muscle mass per year after the age of 50 (Seene & kaasik 2012), that means that if you don’t exercise then by the time you are 70 you will have lost somewhere between 20 and 40% of your muscle mass! A good way to think of this is to look at yourself and imagine how you would look and feel with 20 – 40% less muscle mass! This loss in muscle mass has been linked clearly to reduced mobility (Visser et al 2004) and to an increased risk of falls (Sherrington et al 2008).

So – what is the answer? More pills? Surgery? Better hospitals? No – the answer is very simple – do some exercise and you will increase muscle mass, improve your mobility and reduce your risk of falls (Visser et al 2004; Sherrington et al 2008).

Finally exercise doesn’t just improve your body it can also improve your mind. Sounds too good to be true? Well recent research has linked improved cognition and neuro-plasticity (the ability of the brain to adapt) to exercise in the elderly (Radak et al 2010; Archer 2010). It can also help with depression by increasing serotonin and norepinephrine levels and also by improving self-esteem and body awareness (Eriksson & Gard 2011). For those of you with a neuroscience interest – the hippocampus has been identified as area of the brain that has reduced neural activity in depression sufferers (Eriksson & Gard 2011) and there is some evidence (from animal models) that aerobic exercise can improve activity in this area (Stranahan et al 2007). Some recent evidence suggests that it may help improve the cognitive level of Alzheimer’s sufferers (Nascimento et al 2012).

Well I think that will do for today as I think we have over the series of blogs covered most of the key benefits of exercising as you age. The next blog will be about the type of exercise you should do, how often and at what intensity. For anyone that would like to chat with me about anything that I have written, you will probably notice that I have disabled the comment facility – this is simply because I am constantly short of time and not because I don’t want to discuss things. If you want to get in touch just send an email or use the contact form.

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:

Archer T. (2010) Physical exercise alleviates debilities of normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease Acta Neurologica Scandinavica 123: 221 – 238

Eriksson S. & Gard G. (2011) Systematic Review: Physical exercise and depression Physical Therapy Reviews 16 (4): 261 – 268

Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee (2008) Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Washington DC

Nascimento C., Teixeira C., Gobbie L., Gobbi S., Stella F. (2012) A controlled clinical trial on the effects of exercise on neuropsychiatric disorders and instrumental activities in women with Alzheimer’s diseaseBrazilian Journal of Physical Therapy 16 (3): 197 – 204

Radak Z., Hart N., Sarga L., Koltai E., Atalay M., Ohno H., Boldogh I. (2010) Exercise plays a preventive role against Alzheimer’s disease Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 20 (3): 777 – 783

Seene T. & Kaasik P. (2012) Role of Exercise Therapy in Prevention of Decline in Aging Muscle Function: Glucocorticoid Myopathy and Unloading Journal of Aging Research 2012 [e-published ahead of printing] Accessed via http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3385633/pdf/JAR2012-172492.pdf

Sherrington C., Whitney J., Lord S., Herbert R., Cumming R., Close J., (2008) Effective Exercise for the Prevention of Falls: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Journal of the American Geriatric Society 56(12): 2234–2243

Stranahan A., Khalil D., Gould E. (2007) Running Induces Widespread Structural Alterations in the Hippocampus and Entorhinal Cortex Hippocampus 17 (11): 1017 – 1022

Visser M., Goodpaster B., Kritchevsky S., Newman A., Nevitt M., Rubin S., Simonsick E., Harris T. (2004) Muscle Mass, Muscle Strength, and Muscle Fat Infiltration as Predictors of Incident Mobility Limitations in Well-Functioning Older Persons The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 60 (3): 324 – 333