ageing - staying a step ahead!

amazed

Staying a step ahead of ageing




2008/02/11

The elderly who take up running at later life can record better times.

Training hard and often can stave off the effects of an ageing body. GINA KOLATA writes.

YOU know what is supposed to happen when you grow old. You will slow down, you will grow weak, your steps will become short and mincing, and you will lose your sense of balance. That抯 what ageing researchers consistently find, and it抯 no surprise to most of us.



But it is worth remembering that the people in those studies were sedentary, said Dr Vonda Wright, a professor of orthopedics at the University of Pittsburgh, the United States.

Dr Wright, a 40-year-old runner, decided to study people who kept training as they got older or began competing in middle age. She wanted to know what happens to them and at what age does performance start to decline.

Their results are surprising, even to many of the researchers themselves. The investigators find that while you will slow down as you age, you may be able to stave off more of the deterioration than you thought. Researchers also report that people can start later in life