Simple physical exercises, like walking, can improve their health and can help them prevent walking impairments after the age of 70. Specialists claim that a prescription for exercising may become more important than a prescription for medication. Patricia Katz, a researcher from the University of California, states that once one loses his or her mobility, the chances are that they also lose independence, not being able to move without help anymore.
- Researchers conducted a study that forced them to walk for the health of their mobility.
- Medical staff managed to get seniors back on their feet as soon as possible.
Ms. Katz argues that it is amazing how walking prevents seniors from losing their ability to recuperate faster from different health problems. Walking also helps your back problems diminish. Seniors tend to drift between their independence and the conditions imposed by medical staff when having a broken arm or leg, or a rehab period after a surgery that requires time to get back to their usual exercising.
This new research aimed to discover whether physical activities could be useful for the prevention of walking impairments, keeping them mobile despite other health issues. This study analyzed approximately 1,600 seniors with ages between 70 and 89, who were considered to be at risk for walking impairments because of sedentariness or serious health issues, like diabetes or heart disorder. To participate in this study, they were asked to walk a fourth of a mile in a quarter of an hour.
The geriatrician who led the study, Dr. Thomas Gill from Yale University, argued that the goal of the research was to aim the people who had more to achieve. The idea was to compare seniors who had to follow a usual walking schedule, to which balance and strength exercises were added, with a group which received health education.
During the three-and-a-half-year study, researchers have argued in Annals of Internal Medicine that the walking schedule managed to reduce the seniors’ suffering from a mobility issue by 25%. After this test was conducted, seniors were no longer exposed to walking impairments as they were before the study.
Dr. Gill asserts that seniors needed a period of time to recover from different illnesses tend to leave the hospital with their mobility even more impaired than before. The intention of the hospital’s staff was to get them back on their feet as soon as possible so as to maintain the health of their posture.
How important do you think exercising is in the life of an older person?
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John La Puma MD says
To be even more effective, physicians can write walking –in nature– prescriptions.
Our Medscape research shows that walking and exercising in nature improves immunity, well-being and blood pressure more than exercising without it. posted here, without login: drjlp.com/2co7t8r.
And it doesn’t take very long, as this good study shows. Better mood and self-esteem come with “green” exercise, with the largest benefits from 5-minute engagements. Five minutes!
Nature should be part of exercise and walking prescriptions.