Beltsville, MD – A recent study by researchers at the University of Maryland and published in Experimental Physiology revealed that exercise may be just as critical to heart health as a well-balanced diet. In fact, they discovered that just walking or jogging could actually reshape damaged heart tissue.
“The genes that are important for genome stability are up-regulated in the heart tissue after a single bout of endurance exercise,” said University of Maryland’s Professor Stephen Roth. “This may contribute to the protective effects of exercise on cardiovascular health.”
In other words, activities that boost heart rate and breathing increase the expression of certain genes. In turn, these genes help remodel tissue in the heart and repair damaged DNA.
In the study, the scientists observed the cardiovascular activity of mice as they ran for half an hour on a treadmill. Because these particular genes are regulated in the same way in both mice and humans, the results of the experiment are applicable to both species.
Sadly, 84 percent of people 65 years of age and older die from heart disease. In fact, heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S. overall, taking nearly 801,000 lives every year. While the benefits of cholesterol control and a healthy diet are well known, this new study might just lead to increased life expectancy and drug-free cures for cardiovascular problems.
Already, more than 145 million U.S. adults engage in walking as part of their physically active lifestyle, and as many as 64 million people in the U.S. reported jogging or running last year. Previous studies have shown that jogging is hugely beneficial for lowering blood pressure and improving mood.
Armed with this new knowledge on the benefits of even moderate exercise, perhaps more older Americans will take up the habit.