Regular running 'can slow ageing process'

A jog round the park daily can help you remain fitter and younger, for a new study has found that regular running slows the ageing process and reduces the risk of disability later in life.  

Researchers at Stanford University have based their findings on an analysis of 500 older runners over a period of 20 years. All the participants were in their 50s at the start of the study.  

The study found that the elderly runners have fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and are half as likely as ageing nonrunners to die early deaths, the 'Archives of Internal Medicine' journal reported.  

"The study has a very pro-exercise message. If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise. The health benefits of exercise are greater than we thought," said lead author James Fries.  

In fact, all the participants, who were in their 50s at the start of the study, are now in their 70s and 80s.  

The subjects have answered yearly questionnaires about their ability to perform everyday activities such as walking, dressing and grooming, getting out of a chair to grip objects.  

Nineteen years after, 34 per cent of the non-runners had died compared to only 15 per cent of the runners.