EXERCISE, HEALTH, AND AGING - A NEED FOR MORE INFORMATION

Vigorous exercise is currently being encouraged for health maintenance . There is much evidence that a moderate amount of exercise is needed for the maintenance of functional integrity of the cardiovascular syst em, muscles, bones, and ligaments. There is also fragmentary evidence of a preliminary nature suggesting that regularly performed exercise m ay protect against and have beneficial effects on coronary artery dise ase, diabetes, and hypertension. However, the scientific evidence that strenuous exercise has long-term health benefits or slows aging is me ager and unconvincing. Even in the case of coronary artery disease, di abetes, and hypertension, the majority of studies have provided either negative or inconclusive results or have resulted in only minor impro vements. Taken together, available evidence is inadequate to serve as a basis for recommending regular participation in strenuous exercise f or middle-aged and older individuals. This is particularly true becaus e the theories that exercise may accelerate the aging process as a res ult of increases in metabolic rate and stress hormone production have never been disproved. Therefore, because of the major public health im plications of exercise, large-scale, well-controlled studies of the ef fects of exercise on coronary artery disease, adult onset diabetes, hy pertension, and various aspects of the aging process are urgently need ed. Important barriers to progress in this area are the current dearth of exercise physiologists interested in research on health maintenanc e and well trained in human exercise physiology and the lack of an app ropriate research funding mechanism for large-scale, interdisciplinary studies of the effects of exercise on chronic disease processes and a ging.