Moderate Exercise Increases Mobility Levels in Seniors, Says LIFE Study
October 26, 2009 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis Most babies born now will likely live to be centenarians. These projections filling the news media are based on advances in medical treatments today. The question that arises is that since the projections are based on medical treatments on the elderly population today, then what will the quality of life be for this next generation of centenarians? For several years, the question of quality of life in senior years has been the focus of researchers at The Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University, Medford, Mass. The researchers are now embarking on a extended follow-up study to one completed a few years ago. The prior study examined the effects of initiating either an education or exercise program in seniors (ages 70 to 89) divided into to two groups to find out which group would experience the greatest increase in physical mobility.