Getting enough sleep and doing moderate-to-vigorous exercise can help with healthy aging, according to a study published today in the journal JAMA Network Open. The study’s recommendations may sound like common sense, but the research adds more weight to the idea that a combination of movement and good sleep, even into later years, helps make for a longer, healthier life. However, they caution that in modern society, vigorous physical activity accounts for only about 4% of adults’ waking time whereas sedentary bbehaviouroccupies approximately 60% of adults’ waking time and has significantly increased over time.
The cohort study looked at 45,176 females from the ongoing Nurses’ Health Study, which started in 1976 and is funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study examined nurses 50 years and older who didn’t have a major chronic disease in 1992. Scientists followed them for 20 years. The data was analyzed from January to May 2022.
The scientists defined healthy aging as living to at least 70 while maintaining four health domains (mental health, physical function, no major chronic diseases, and no impairment in subjective memory).
The researchers used an isotemporal (in the same time frame) substitution model to evaluate the potential impact on healthy aging by replacing one hour of one behavior with the equivalent duration of another.
After 20 years of follow-up, 3,873 women (8%) achieved healthy aging. By age 50, that baseline number was 18%; At 55 it was 9%. At 60 it was 4%. And by 65 years old, it is less than 1%.
Of those possessing the four domains of healthy aging, 18,696 women (41%) didn’t have any of the 11 chronic diseases; 7,250 women (16%) reported no impairment of physical function; 19,937 women (44%) reported no mental health limitations, and 23,465 women (52%) had no impairment of memory function. Researchers reported that the study subjects who replaced time spent watching television with light physical activity as well as those who did moderate to vigorous physical activity or got at least seven hours of sleep were all associated with better odds of healthy aging. The researchers concluded that sedentary behaviors, especially prolonged television watching, were associated with decreased odds of healthy aging.
In comparison, light physical activity was associated with significantly increased odds of healthy aging and moderate to vigorous physical activity was associated with even higher odds of achieving healthy aging. These findings complement previous evidence on the association between these behaviors and mortality and provide important evidence for promoting active lifestyles for achieving optimal health at older ages.
Sleep helps aging in many ways, including improved memory, improved heart health, better glucose control, less risk of Alzheimer’s and more. Exercise, due to the production of myokines, is so important for aging. It helps maintain cognitive health, decreases inflammation, builds muscle important for longevity, improves insulin sensitivity, lowers blood pressure, and more. Activities that increase one’s heart rate and oxygen levels release endorphins that can help regulate sleep patterns and improve one’s overall mood.
