Physical exercise combats the aging process

[CoachBobM]

A study published in the medical journal Circulation late last year (Circulation. 2009 Dec 15;120(24):2438-47, "Physical exercise prevents cellular senescence in circulating leukocytes and in the vessel wall," Werner C, Fürster T, Widmann T, Pöss J, Roggia C, Hanhoun M, Scharhag J, Büchner N, Meyer T, Kindermann W, Haendeler J, Böhm M, Laufs U) found that physical exercise combats the aging process.

A major mechanism in the aging process involves the deterioration of telomeres - repetitive segments of DNA on the ends of chromosomes which help to guard the information-containing segments of the chromosomes.

A loose analogy might be the leads on the ends of a magnetic tape or a reel of movie film: The leads don't contain any useful information, but they provide something that can be threaded onto a takeup or rewind reel. As the tape or movie is repetitively used, the leads undergo wear and tear, and periodically pieces break off, but the tape or movie isn't affected because the leads don't contain any content. But if too many pieces break off, eventually the leads will be gone and additional breaks will destroy some of the content of the tape or movie.

Much the same thing happens as telomeres are damaged. Once the telomeres are gone, the information content of the DNA begins to be destroyed, leading to cellular senescence. The deterioration of telomeres can be reversed, however, by telomerase, which repairs the telomeres.

The study compared the telomere biology of circulating white blood cells in young and middle aged track and field athletes to that in control subjects, and found that the endurance athletes showed increased telomerase activity, expression of telomere-stabilizing proteins, and downregulation of cell-cycle
inhibitors compared with the untrained individuals.


Bob

[Rhoda]

We all know fit active older people who seem much younger than their peers - I live with one. Interesting to know exactly why.

[splashingpat]

Originally Posted by CoachBobM

...
Bob

Bob i believe you've have had a handle on this exercise
and most do n't talk about it
or understand it....

but I may of stumble onto something good!
glad to see ya posted articles
at least!

splashn
at ya,
Pat

[vol]

There is no doubt about the benefits of physical activity to health and longevity. However, I wonder if swimming in chlorinated pool long term can cause premature skin aging? Maybe the swimmers will be healthier into old age, but their skin make them look older in some way?

[terry]

My experience is purely anecdotal, but five years ago I estimated that, over 40 years since I first joined a swim team in 10th grade, I'd devoted about 10,000 hours to swimming practice, nearly all in chlorinated pools. Since then I've probably added another 1000 or so hours.
I just returned from a 5-week visit to Asia where at every turn people flattered my ego with comments on how youthful I appear, considering I'll turn 60 in four months.
So at least in my case, swimming in chlorinated pools has not contributed to prematurely aged appearance.

On the other hand I'm quite confident that my telomeres are in unusually good shape.