“The earlier you maintain fitness, the better chance of preventing depression, which in the long run will help lower the risk of heart diseases,” said co-author Madhukar Trivedi from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre in the US. For the study, the researchers examined database of nearly 18,000 participants who had their cardio-respiratory fitness measured at an average age of 50 years.
The researchers used Medicare Administrative data to establish correlations between the participants’ fitness at midlife to rates of depression and heart diseases in older age. “There is enough evidence to show that the effect of low fitness on depression and heart diseases is real. But further study is needed to establish the mechanism by which this effect happens,” Trivedi noted.