Being physically during midlife not only helps extend lifespan,
but it also increases the chances of aging healthily, free from
chronic illness, investigators at the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center and The Cooper Institute have found.
The association between cardiorespiratory fitness and mortality
is well described, say the study's authors. However, it
previously had been unknown just how much fitness might affect
the burden of chronic disease in the most senior years—a concept
known as morbidity compression. Researchers examined the patient
data of 18,670 participants in the Cooper Center Longitudinal
Study, research that contains more than 250,000 medical records
maintained over a 40-year span. These data were linked with the
patients' Medicare claims filed later in life from ages 70 to
85. Analyses during the latest study showed that when patients
increased fitness levels by 20% in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, they
decreased their chances of developing chronic
diseases—congestive heart failure,