Dr. Zaslow weighs in on new study
Article Link: Longevity: More intense exercise may not benefit life span as much
For this study, researchers analyzed health data from almost 23,000 Finnish twins born before 1958 who had been part of the Finnish Twin Cohort.
Study participants had their physical activity levels evaluated three times — in 1975, 1981, and 1990. And the mortality rate of participants was followed up until the end of 2020.
After reading this study, readers may wonder why they should continue to exercise if it doesn’t help increase their life span. MNT posed this question to Tracy Zaslow, MD, primary care sports medicine specialist at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles and a team physician for Angel City Football Club and LA Galaxy, about this study.
“I would say number one, there’s a lot of studies that do show that life span is increased,” Zaslow explained. “But probably even more importantly, no matter what, the quality of life is improved by physical activity, in the sense that just being able to do more, more easily without pain.”
“We know that the amount of muscle that you have decreases with age. You lose muscle as you age, starting pretty early on — 30s (and) 40s. So we need to work extra as we approach those decades to keep that strength so that it’s easy to move around.”
— Tracy Zaslow, MD
“I think a lot of people stop their exercise because it’s hard to pick up the golf ball when it goes in the hole — they can’t get up from (a crouched) position,” Zaslow added. “And if you just work on the strength of the legs, of the glutes, of the core muscles, then continuing those activities becomes an easy task, and a more engaging and enjoyable task.”
