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Exercise, Nutrition and HealthDr. Miriam Nelson, Ph.D., is Associate Director of the Human Physiology Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. Miriam has done extensive research on the benefits of exercise.
JM
Mim, can you tell us about the latest scientific findings on the health benefits of exercise?
MN
The early studies on this subject focused on how exercise helped people with heart disease. Soon, we realized that exercise could also reduce the risk of diabetes. Since then, the list has grown considerably.
People who exercise regularly lower their risk of hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression, anxiety, sleep problems and frailty. Frailty is a special problem for the elderly because it leads to bad falls and generally poor health. We know now that even the frail benefit from exercise. One of the main benefits of exercise is that it increases lean tissue in the body. Lean tissue includes muscle, bone, and internal organs — basically everything in the body except fat. We tend to lose lean tissue as we age. Exercise helps keep your weight under control and reduces the risk of stroke. More recently, studies have also shown that people who exercise are less likely to get breast or colon cancer. The exciting news about exercise is that it can be used both for prevention and for treatment of disease. In the past, doctors were reluctant to prescribe exercise for patients with serious illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes or extreme obesity; they were afraid that it might be too stressful. We now know that exercise is a great help in treating many of these disorders. Why Not Just Prescribe Human Growth Hormone?
JM
I have read several studies(1) indicating that that lean tissue mass can be increased just as easily by taking injections of human growth hormone (HGH) as by exercise. Why, then, don't we recommend HGH, particularly for the elderly who might find exercise difficult or inconvenient?
MN
The growth hormone research has been very exciting. As you mentioned, the research showed that older individuals on HGH did gain lean tissue. The problem is that while it does increase lean tissue mass, it does not make skeletal muscle any stronger. This was a major disappointment. Skeletal muscles are the muscles we use to move our limbs and joints. The studies show that HGH can give you bigger but not necessarily better muscles. In other words, it is not going to help you get up out of a chair, climb stairs, or walk.
Another problem with HGH is that it has significant side effects. People taking growth hormone can experience insulin resistance. There can also be problems with the cardiovascular system and with nerve entrapment syndromes, such as carpal tunnel syndrome. So, in many ways, it is not a particularly desirable means of treating frailty in older individuals. By the way, it's also very expensive.
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