Even Starting Late, Exercise Saves Lives

Beginning regular activity at 50 can extend your life, a study finds. But it takes about 10 years for this effect to appear. The Swedish study kept track of 2,205 men for more than 20 years, beginning at age 50. Researchers divided them into groups based on exercise levels. In the first five years of the study, death rates were lowest among those who exercised the most. But some men started to exercise between 50 and 60. After 10 years, their death rates were as low as those of men who had exercised all along. Exercise made as big a difference in death rates as quitting smoking, researchers said. The study appeared in the British Medical Journal. Reuters Health news service wrote about it March 6.