Cells in the body live longer with exercise
Tue 02/02/2010 15:00
A new scientific research project carried out by German academics has revealed the cells in the body of those who exercise regularly live longer than those who don’t, spikesmag.com reports.
The researchers examined several groups of people. Two of the studied groups had 20-year-old track and field athletes and middle-aged, middle-distance runners. The alternate two groups contained participants who were not at all active.
The scientist then examined their white blood cells.
When comparing the length of the telomere (the tiny caps on the end of the DNA) in both the active youngsters and the not so active youngsters, the two measured the same length.
The results while comparing the middle age group however, displayed a marked difference between the two; those who were not active had a 75% reduction in the length of their telomere, which means they are ageing faster. On the other hand the middle-aged distance runners only had a 10% reduction, meaning their cells have a longer lifespan.
One of the researchers, who carried out the experiment at the
Saarland University Clinic in Homburg, finished by saying,
‘it was striking to see many of the middle-aged athletes looking much younger than sedentary controlled subjects of the same age.’