By Christopher Sharp,Natalie King,Shauna Bannon Ward
Copyright rsvplive
A doctor has disclosed that all her elderly patients possess one shared trait that has contributed to their longevity.
In The i, Dr Helen Evan-Howells disclosed that all her senior patients maintain regular physical activity and she advocates a three-pronged approach combining nutritious eating, physical exercise, and adequate rest.
While promoting physical activity, Dr Evan-Howells also advised steering clear of “direct contact with friends or relatives who are unwell and waiting those few extra days until their infections have cleared”.
She additionally endorsed face covering usage, stating that “we’ve all witnessed through the pandemic that there can be a benefit from this”.
Regarding physical activity, she noted: “In my GP work, looking after the elderly, the people who live the longest and in the best health have one thing in common – exercise,” reports the Mirror.
While physical activity can enhance mental wellbeing and physical longevity, recent studies suggest that regular movement could reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease.
Research published in the British Medical Journal last year linked physical activity to a decreased risk of dementia.
Discussing the results, the study’s principal author Dr Iyas Daghlas remarked: “Despite the steady increase in the prevalence, no effective treatments for this devastating disease exist.
“Prevention of Alzheimer’s through identification of modifiable risk factors is thus a key public health aim. Based on human genetics data, individuals randomised to lifelong higher lean muscle mass had a 12 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and scored higher for cognitive performance.
“These analyses provide new evidence supporting a cause-and-effect relation between lean mass and risk of Alzheimer’s disease.”
While the research didn’t specify exactly how much physical activity was necessary to significantly reduce someone’s likelihood of developing dementia, separate findings suggested it could be as little as six minutes daily.
This study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, suggested that six minutes of vigorous exercise – otherwise known as moderate and physical activity (MVPA) – each day might be enough.
The author of the study, Dr John Mitchell, explained: “MVPA is typically the smallest proportion of the day in real terms, and the most difficult intensity to acquire.
“Perhaps partly for this reason, loss of any MVPA time whatsoever appeared detrimental, even within this relatively active cohort.”
