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Myth
#1 | Myth
#2 | Myth #3 | Myth
#4 | Myth #5
Myth #2
It's
not worth protecting yourself when you're older because the damage is
already done.
Baloney. Older people who
begin to take the right steps now can add years to their lives -- and
can lead those years with less disease and disability. According to
Dr. John Rowe, head of Mount Sinai, New York University Medical Center,
it's almost never too late to take steps to reverse decades of abuse
and neglect.
- Five years after people
of any age quit smoking, they have nearly the same cardiovascular
risk of those who never smoked.
- Older people who start
doing aerobic exercise can boost cardiovascular fitness by the same
average 10-30 percent as younger people can.
- People who have started
muscle-building workouts in their 80's and 90's have doubled or tripled
their strength in a matter of months.
- A study of over 2,500
men over age 60 found that those who worked themselves into shape
during a five year period had half the cardiovascular and total death
rates of those who remained unfit.
- Exercise cuts the risk
of fatal heart attack by 20-25% in people who have already had a heart
attack.
- Weight loss and appropriate
exercise can reduce arthritic pain.
- Strength training can
thicken osteoporotic bone.
- Medical interventions
such as hearing aids and low-vision devices, heart and diabetes drugs,
and surgery for arthritis can cataracts can fend off disability and
-- in some cases -- prolong life.
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