Retaining the ability to get up and about easily 鈥斅爐o walk across a parking lot, climb a set of stairs, rise from a chair and maintain balance 鈥� is an under-appreciated component of good health in later life.
When mobility is compromised, older adults are more likely to lose their independence, become isolated, feel depressed, live in nursing homes and die earlier than people who don鈥檛 have difficulty moving around.
Problems with mobility are distressingly common: About 17 percent of seniors age 65 or older even one-quarter of a mile, and another 28 percent have difficulty doing so.
But trouble getting around or a hip replacement isn鈥檛 a sign that your life is headed irreversibly downhill. If you start getting physical activity on a regular basis, you鈥檒l be more likely to recover strength and flexibility and less likely to develop long-term disability, new published in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows.
This encouraging finding comes from a study of people at high risk of mobility problems: men and women between the ages of 70 and 89 who were sedentary and had some difficulties with daily activities but were still able to walk a quarter mile without assistance.
Half of the group attended 26 weekly health education classes followed by monthly seminars. The other half spent about an hour getting physical activity 鈥� primarily walking 鈥� at a clinic twice a week, followed by at-home exercises.
The goal was to have participants meet the government鈥檚 recommended standard of 150 minutes of weekly moderate physical activity and sustain that level over time.
Results confirmed the extraordinary benefits of physical activity, which has been shown in previous research to lower an individual鈥檚 risk of heart disease, cognitive impairment, diabetes, depression and some cancers.
The group that focused on walking and strength and balance exercises was 25 percent less likely to experience significant problems with mobility than the group that focused on education over a period of almost three years. Specifically, they recovered faster from episodes of being unable to walk and were less likely to have problems getting around after that recovery period.
The program 鈥渨as a godsend,鈥� said John Carp, 87, who didn鈥檛 make it a point to walk regularly before he joined the study. 鈥淭here was an improvement in physical feeling and also my mental attitude.鈥�
鈥淚f there was a pill that offered comparable benefits, it would be a billion-dollar product and people would be all over it,鈥� said Dr. Thomas Gill, lead author of the new paper and a professor of geriatrics at the Yale School of Medicine, as well as director of Yale Program on Aging.
Gill hopes to convince Medicare and other insurers to adopt the intervention he helped create. But older adults don鈥檛 need to wait for that to happen. There are plenty of places 鈥� YMCAs and senior centers, for instance 鈥� where seniors can take classes. Experts鈥� practical advice:
It鈥檚 never too late. 鈥淥lder adults may think 鈥榠t鈥檚 too late for me 鈥� I鈥檓 too old or too sick for this,鈥欌�� said Patricia Katz, a professor of medicine and health policy at the University of California, San Francisco. 鈥淭he message from this study is it鈥檚 never too late.鈥�
鈥淧rescribing exercise may be just as important as prescribing medications,鈥� Katz wrote in an editorial accompanying Gill鈥檚 report.
Focus on activity, not exercise. 鈥淥lder adults, if you talk to them about exercise, will say that鈥檚 not for me, that鈥檚 for my grandchildren,鈥� Gill said. 鈥淏ut if you talk to them about become more physically active, they鈥檒l say 鈥榦kay, I can do that.鈥欌��
鈥淏asically, I walk in the park or around the neighborhood and move my arms and legs around at night in different positions, and try to flex my muscles,鈥� Carp said, describing his daily routine. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not hard, and it makes a big difference.鈥�
Start slow. Some participants could barely make it around a track at the beginning of the study so 鈥渨e started low and increased slowly,鈥� offering remedial help along the way, Gill said.
鈥淚 recommend focusing on smaller and achievable goals, initially, and not trying to do everything at once because we know that tends to make people give up,鈥� said Dr. Anne Newman, chair of the department of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh and co-author of a new showing that people who eat healthily, maintain a normal weight and are physically active live longer and spend less time being disabled at the end of their lives.
Even small amounts make a difference. Newman鈥檚 study tracked more than 5,000 older adults over the course of 25 years. One conclusion: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no threshold for benefit from physical activity,鈥� she said. 鈥淓very little bit helps.鈥�
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need to get on a treadmill, go to the gym, or wear Spandex,鈥� Newman said. All you need to do is start walking for a few minutes every day and gradually build up your strength and endurance.鈥�
Beware of becoming sedentary. The worst thing seniors can do is 鈥渟it down and take it easy,鈥� said Susan Hughes, co-director of the Center for Research on Health and Aging at the University of Illinois聽at聽Chicago.
Make a plan. Hughes helped develop , an evidence-based physical activity program for seniors with osteoarthritis that incorporates health education.
Before participants go off on their own, coaches craft an individualized plan that covers three questions: What are you going to do and how often, where are you going to do it and who are you going to do it with? You can make a plan yourself, but make sure it鈥檚 enjoyable, Hughes said. Otherwise, it鈥檚 very unlikely you鈥檒l follow it for any length of time.
We鈥檙e eager to hear from readers about questions you鈥檇 like answered, problems you鈥檝e been having with your care and advice you need in dealing with the health care system. Visit聽 to submit your requests or tips.
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