Jogging and Longevity

A paper presented at a European symposium found that regular jogging increased the lifespan for men by about 6.2 years and women by about 5.6 years. This study was a sub-study of the Copenhagen City Heart study which started in 1976, following about 20,000 people. The authors of this study found that the ideal amount of jogging per week was between 1 hour and 2.5 hours undertaken in 2-3 sessions throughout the week. They found that more time or less time offered fewer benefits. What the paper can't answer is whether people who regularly jog also tend to walk more in their daily lives? Did the non-joggers do other sports? How did jogging compare to other sports? Did jogging help with stress relief or was it the cardiovascular fitness or was it both? I think that jogging can't guarantee a long life, it certainly can contribute to a long, healthy life. 




"Assessing prognosis: a glimpse of the future." Symposium: Saturday May 5, 9.15 am to 10.15 am. Liffey B Lecture Room. P. Schnohr, Jogging-healthy or hazard?

EuroPRevent2012 is the annual meeting of the European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (EACPR), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). EuroPRevent2012 takes place 3 to 5 May 2012 at the Convention Centre, Dublin – Ireland. The full scientific programme is accessible here.http://www.escardio.org/congresses/europrevent-2012/scientific-programme/Pages/welcome.aspx

Abstracts are online here http://spo.escardio.org/welcome.aspx?eevtid=52

The New York Times also ran an interesting article about this study as well as about another one using 30 years of data from the Cooper Institute in Dallas. That study found that running at a pace of 10-11 mph for 1-20 miles per week was the sweet spot for longevity. 

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