BEACON TRANSCRIPT – A new study will most surely make women want to exercise more. The research, conducted by many U.S. top universities, found that cells age faster in older women who lead a sedentary lifestyle than in those who exercise daily.
A few of the universities involved in the research are University of California, San Diego, Washington, Florida, Northwestern University, as well as Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Their research focused on telomeres. These are threads of molecules that protect the strands of chromosomes from tearing apart.
These telomeres get shorter every time the genetic information from the cells is duplicated. This is believed to lead to the ageing and death of the cells. The subjects of the research were older women and they looked if there is any connection between telomere length and sedentarism.
The measure unity of telomeres are small sections of nucleic acids that compose the DNA, known as base pairs. Researchers found that women who did less than 40 minutes of physical activity per day had shorter telomeres. Of all these women, those who had the lowest scores of physical activity had on average 170 base pairs less than the other ones.
A shortage in telomere length was found to be linked to the time spent sitting down. However, this link is present in women who exercise less than 40 minutes per day. The same link was not present in women who exercise. Also, the researchers found that the women who were found to spend the most time sitting down are most likely to be old, white, obese, and suffering from long term illnesses.
Scientists said that the average base pair loss per year is 21. Therefore, 170 base pair mean around eight years. That is eight extra years of life for women who exercise more.
However, it is not clear if this theory could be applied to men or to younger people. Moreover, the research only looked at older women and their activity levels at one point in time, so it is not sure if it’s the physical activity or the sedentarism that causes the shortage of telomeres.
It does not come as a surprise that sustained physical activity preserves our good health. However, this study is not extensive enough and the results are not completely reliable, but it is advisable for older people to have as much physical activity as possible.