Health Journal Online

Tag: 40s

  • Every Extra Hour Of Walking In Your 40’s Adds Time To Lifespan: Study Suggests

    Every Extra Hour Of Walking In Your 40’s Adds Time To Lifespan: Study Suggests

    The secret to longevity lies in the level of physical activity at age 40, a recent study reveals, showing that increased activity at this stage can extend lifespan.

    Americans who increase their physical activity to match the top 25 percent of the population could add five years to their lifespan, the study revealed. Also, the least active individuals might gain nearly 11 years by reaching the activity levels of the most active, according to the study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

    To understand the impact of different levels of increased physical activity on life expectancy, the researchers used a predictive model based on data from the activity tracker from the 2003–06 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey. Participants were aged 40 and older.

    The study found that the most active 25 percent of Americans in this age group engaged in physical activity equivalent to 160 minutes of walking at a normal pace of 4.8 km (3 miles) per hour daily. The predictive model showed that if all Americans over 40 matched this daily level of physical activity, their average lifespan would increase by over five years. This means that their life expectancy would increase from 78.6 years to around 84 years.

    Meanwhile, when the least active 25 percent of the population matched the activity levels of the most active 25 percent, they could gain nearly 11 additional years of life. However, this would mean they need to add 111 minutes of daily walking at 4.8 km/hour, or an equivalent effort.

    “Our findings suggest that physical activity is associated with substantial gains in life expectancy for individual Americans and for the population. Moving the least active 25% of the population over age 40 to become as active as the top 25% could result in an average life expectancy gain of about 11 years for this group. The greatest gain in lifetime per hour of walking was seen for individuals in the lowest activity quartile where an hour’s walk could add an impressive 6 hours to life,” the researchers wrote.

    While the greatest benefits were notable when there was an increase in physical activity to the least active group, on average, every extra hour of walking adds around 3 hours (169 minutes) to lifespan.

    Since the study is observational and based on a predictive model, there are a few limitations. The researchers caution that there is the possibility that they might have “underestimated or overestimated the benefits of physical activity”.

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  • Poor Sleep In 40s May Add Years To Your Brain Age: Study Finds

    Poor Sleep In 40s May Add Years To Your Brain Age: Study Finds

    Missing out on sleep not only makes you feel groggy the next day, but the effects can be long-lasting. Adding to the growing body of evidence, researchers have now found that poor sleep in the middle ages is linked to accelerated brain aging in the next ten years.

    The latest study that evaluated participants’ brain health using brain scans revealed that having poor sleep quality in the 40s might add more years to the brain age.

    “Sleep problems have been linked in previous research to poor thinking and memory skills later in life, putting people at higher risk for dementia. Our study which used brain scans to determine participants’ brain age, suggests that poor sleep is linked to nearly three years of additional brain aging as early as middle age,” said study author, Clémence Cavaillès from the University of California San Francisco in a news release.

    The researchers evaluated the sleep patterns of 589 participants with an average age of 40 using questionnaires at the start of the study and five years later. After 15 years, the researchers evaluated the brain shrinkage of the participants using brain scans.

    The questionnaires evaluated participants based on six sleep issues: difficulty falling asleep, waking up in between sleep, waking up too early, short sleep duration, bad sleep quality, and daytime sleepiness.

    Based on the results, participants were divided into three groups according to their sleep quality. Those in the low group had just one poor sleep characteristic and 70% belonged to this group. However, the middle group, comprising 22% of participants, had two to three poor sleep features, while the high group, with more than three poor sleep characteristics, made up 8% of the population.

    After analyzing brain scans alongside sleep patterns, researchers found that participants in the middle group had an average brain age of 1.6 years older than those in the low group. Meanwhile, those in the high group showed an average brain age of 2.6 years older than the low group.

    Out of the six poor sleep characteristics studied, bad sleep quality, difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep and early morning awakening were linked to greater brain age. This was particularly strong when the participants consistently had it for over five years.

    “Our findings highlight the importance of addressing sleep problems earlier in life to preserve brain health, including maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, exercising, avoiding caffeine and alcohol before going to bed and using relaxation techniques,” said author Dr. Kristine Yaffe, from the University of California San Francisco.

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