Treadmill Tests Gauge Future Fitness
 

Treadmill Tests Gauge Future Fitness
December 16, 2003 04:17 PM EST

CHICAGO - People who are out of shape in their 20s run a high
risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes and other
heart attack risk factors by their 30s and 40s, according to
a study in which people were given treadmill tests of their
fitness.

The lesson: "People can't wait until middle age to try and
protect themselves," said lead author Mercedes Carnethon, an
assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern
University in Chicago.

The study involved about 4,400 men and women who were given a
treadmill were 18 to 30. Most of them were followed for 15
years after that.

Those who did not do well on the treadmill test faced double
the risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes or a
condition called metabolic syndrome, compared with highly
fit participants. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms
that includes high blood sugar, poor cholesterol levels,
elevated blood pressure and a fat belly.

Some of the participants underwent a second treadmill test,
seven years after the first one. Those who became more fit
during those intervening years reduced by 50 percent their
risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

The study is published in Wednesday's Journal of the American
Medical Association.

The findings "confirm what common sense has always told us -
lack of fitness in youth is not a good thing for later life,"
said Dr. Teri Manolio, director of epidemiology at the
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which funded the
research. "It doesn't take that long for risk factors to
develop and disease to develop."

Fitness levels were determined by how long participants
could walk on a treadmill without becoming fatigued and
short of breath.

About 60 percent of the women and 50 percent of the men
had low or moderate fitness levels. They were twice as
likely to develop heart-disease factors as those who
were highly fit.

---
On the Net:
JAMA: http://jama.ama-assn.org
NHLBI: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov

Treadmill Tests Gauge Future Fitness
 

Good post. Use it or lose it! 20-yr-olds get off your duff!

"Craig G." wrote in message ...
Treadmill Tests Gauge Future Fitness
December 16, 2003 04:17 PM EST

CHICAGO - People who are out of shape in their 20s run a high
risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes and other
heart attack risk factors by their 30s and 40s, according to
a study in which people were given treadmill tests of their
fitness.

The lesson: "People can't wait until middle age to try and
protect themselves," said lead author Mercedes Carnethon, an
assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern
University in Chicago.

The study involved about 4,400 men and women who were given a
treadmill were 18 to 30. Most of them were followed for 15
years after that.

Those who did not do well on the treadmill test faced double
the risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes or a
condition called metabolic syndrome, compared with highly
fit participants. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms
that includes high blood sugar, poor cholesterol levels,
elevated blood pressure and a fat belly.

Some of the participants underwent a second treadmill test,
seven years after the first one. Those who became more fit
during those intervening years reduced by 50 percent their
risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

The study is published in Wednesday's Journal of the American
Medical Association.

The findings "confirm what common sense has always told us -
lack of fitness in youth is not a good thing for later life,"
said Dr. Teri Manolio, director of epidemiology at the
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which funded the
research. "It doesn't take that long for risk factors to
develop and disease to develop."

Fitness levels were determined by how long participants
could walk on a treadmill without becoming fatigued and
short of breath.

About 60 percent of the women and 50 percent of the men
had low or moderate fitness levels. They were twice as
likely to develop heart-disease factors as those who
were highly fit.

---
On the Net:
JAMA: http://jama.ama-assn.org
NHLBI: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov