Endurance training, such as treadmill exercises, can protect a person from the damaging effects of aging..
These are the results of a study of telomeres - the terminal sections of chromosomes that perform a protective function.
Among people aged 66 to 77 years, trained athletes demonstrated the presence of longer telomeres compared with less active participants (P \u003d 0.04). This difference could not be found among people aged 20-30 years. This data is given by Dr. J.. Neumann of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology of Trondheim.
The results of the study “suggest that endurance training can regulate telomeres in old age and slow down the aging process by maintaining telomere lengths”. This study authors reported online in PLOS ONE.
They note that, despite their value, the results were obtained from a study of a very modest group of 20 participants. For this reason, scientists should consider them carefully..
Telomeres shorten over time as cells continue to multiply. Telomere length is associated with cellular age and the process of physical aging.. Studies examining the relationship between telomere length and body fitness have previously yielded conflicting results..
To clarify this issue, Norwegian researchers selected 20 male volunteers, half of whom were 22–27 years old (average age 24) and the other half were 66–77 years old (average age 69). In each age group, half of the participants were trained athletes, and the other half were ordinary men who led an active lifestyle, but never practiced sports professionally..
None of the participants showed either cardiovascular disease or obesity; none of them ever smoked and at the time of the study did not take medicine.
After muscle biopsy, a comparative assessment of the average telomere length and T / S ratio was performed. For this, the method of quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used.. During the treadmill test (stress test), the maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) was measured.
In the older age group, trained athletes had a significantly longer telomere length (T / S ratio 1.12 versus 0.92; P \u003d 0.04). Such a significant difference, according to scientists, is quite capable of affecting life expectancy.
In the young age group, the telomere length did not differ significantly between athletes and untrained participants (T / S ratio 1.47 versus 1.33; P \u003d 0.12). Perhaps the lack of difference is due to a small sample or a short-term effect of physical training..
The maximum oxygen consumption was higher among trained athletes in both age groups - VO2max 67.0 versus 53.9 mL / kg / min among young people and 45.4 against 39.4 mL / kg / min among older participants.
In the total sample, telomere length was positively associated with VO2max (r \u003d 0.70; P \u003d 0.001).
The relationship was more pronounced among trained athletes - r \u003d 0.78 (P \u003d 0.02) versus r \u003d 0.58 (P \u003d 0.09) among untrained men. In addition to a small number of participants, scientists note other limitations of the study, including the male composition of participants and probable environmental factors that cannot be tracked.
The study was funded by Fund K grants.. Jebsen and School of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
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