Boost Longevity: High Aerobic Fitness Reduces Chronic Disease Risk
The Significant Role of Maintaining a High Cardiorespiratory Fitness Level in Midlife
One effective way to live long without developing multiple chronic diseases, including cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, is to maintain a high degree of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). Data from a large-scale observational study has revealed the crucial role of CRF in health as we age.
In this research, which monitored the health of over 38,000 adults for up to 15 years, the results suggested that those with high CRF had a reduced risk of developing multimorbidity. This encompasses a delayed onset of disease development and less overall accumulation of chronic diseases. The findings were reported online in JACC: Advances.
The Link Between High Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Decreased Risk of Chronic Diseases
A high level of CRF is known for its significant correlation with reduced all-cause mortality and a lower risk of specific chronic diseases, especially diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, the study provided new evidence on how CRF affects the overall accumulation of chronic diseases or the development of multimorbidity.
The findings underscore the importance of maintaining high levels of CRF through exercise and physical activity to prevent the accumulation of chronic diseases and prolong health span as we age.
The Benefits of Aerobic Fitness in Preventing Chronic Diseases
Claudio Gil Araújo, MD, PhD, a researcher not involved in the study but has investigated the clinical benefits of exercise and physical fitness, comments on the study’s reinforcement of the belief that improving aerobic fitness is probably the most impactful clinical intervention available to prevent chronic diseases.
It is an original finding that higher aerobic fitness slows the trajectory of developing multiple chronic diseases over the next 10 to 15 years. Araújo believes that health professionals need to recognize that physical fitness—both aerobic and nonaerobic aspects—is crucial for longer and healthier lifespans.
Shifting the Paradigm of Exercise Recommendations
Within the health community, a paradigm shift is needed in how physical activity and exercise are thought about and recommended for patients. The current guidelines suggest a target of 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week, but exercise should not be the target – the goal should instead be physical fitness.
Understanding Multimorbidity and the UK Biobank Data
With the increase in life expectancy in recent decades, new challenges have emerged, such as the rise in the prevalence of multimorbidity – the co-occurrence of two or more chronic diseases in the same individual.
Multimorbidity negatively impacts quality of life and poses significant challenges to the healthcare system. Care of individuals with multiple chronic illnesses often requires balancing potential interactions between conditions and their treatments, with the evidence to support these complex clinical choices being limited.
Researchers analyzed data from 38,348 adults enrolled in the UK Biobank to look at the relationship between high CRF and multimorbidity. They found that those with low CRF were more likely to develop three or more chronic diseases compared with those with moderate or high fitness levels.
Cardiorespiratory Fitness as a Predictor of Future Health
High CRF is a buffer against the accumulation of chronic diseases as we age. CRF could be considered a useful clinical tool to assess a patient’s vulnerability to multiple chronic diseases, and deserves broader consideration in midlife health assessments.
Personalizing Fitness Paths
Healthcare professionals should consider baseline fitness, genetics, and more when prescribing exercise or developing programs for individuals. Currently, aerobic fitness needs to be measured so that healthcare teams have a good idea of what needs to be done, similar to taking baseline assessments of blood pressure or lipids.
Despite certain limitations in the study, the UK Biobank provides an excellent sample size and good representations of men and women of various age groups. Physical fitness is better correlated with health outcomes than physical activity levels. Hence, as Araújo sums up, “Only the fittest will survive!”
Health & Wellness News; US Lifestyle News