Live data from Hacker News

Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

bbc.co.uk

151–160 of 251 posts

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#151
post #3
post #2

"Mens sana in corpore sano", says 10000th study :) The real question: is there anyone out there that really debates that exercising constantly = better, longer life?

I'm 63 and a bit overweight. But I have lost 50 lbs in the last 2 years. Wife and I try to exercise for 50 to 70 minutes a day Monday-Friday. We are up at 4:30 am and at the gym at 5:10. We feel better doing this for ourselves. Some weekends we go to the gym and usually, when we do we stay longer. I'm a believer.

> I have lost 50 lbs in the last 2 years

That's awesome progress!

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#152
post #30

On one side of my family retirement for my grandparents meant long days vegetating in front of the television with little dogs to pet. Church on Sundays were really their only time out. This brought dementia by age 80 and a host of other issues and they are on their way out. On the other side my grandfather plays basketball, golfs, runs, reads a book every few days, even drinks at a bar. No dementia. Sharp as a tack.…

It's only anecdotal but I've seen the same (church aside). My very bright, well to do Grandparents are mostly house bound now and have gotten far slower the less active they've gotten. On the other hand my other grandmother is still the exact same as she was 20 years ago and she's constantly out and about and going on holidays/trips regularly.

There's a correlation problem here though. Maybe they have become less active as they have become slower

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#153
I hate direct exercising, ie running around my local area or going to the gym. However what I do love is participating in activities which require exercising; mountain biking, table tennis, football, hiking and badminton. I love all of these sports for its social benefits and most of the time I forget I'm exercising :)

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#154
post #86

Do not say you're too busy to exercise. Your productivity is much higher when you exercise. Do not say you're too old to exercise. The older you are, the more crucial it is. Get in the habit. Start with even just 2 intense minutes a day. Once you're in the habit, you'll work out longer.

Precisely, one should quit all excuses! My father was prescribed to storvas (for cholesterol) over a decade ago... luckily he is an avid reader and soon found out what road the permanent meds lead to. He quit the meds and started working out consistently (never mind spondylitis which he combatted with bed rest) for 10 years (and still continuing). Today, he's over 50 and is killing it in every aspect in life. His min…

Is "to storvas" a typo? I can't tell what that is, and Google isn't helping. I don't understand what the result of those meds would be without know what those meds themselves are.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely, one should quit all excuses! My father was prescribed to storvas (for cholesterol) over a decade ago... luckily he is an avid reader and soon found out what road the permanent meds lead to. He quit the meds and started working out consistently (never mind spondylitis which he combatted with bed rest) for 10 years (and still continuing). Today, he's over 50 and is killing it in every aspect in life. His min…

I just hate it. Not that I haven't tried. I've tried running, weights, walking. It's boring, and makes me feel tired and irritable. I just want to go to bed after exercise. Not my thing.

It could be a symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_fatigue_syndrome

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#156
Looking at the funnel plot in fig. 3 in the linked meta-analysis [1], the high precision studies (standard error "randomisation; allocation concealment; blinding of therapists (intervention supervisors); blinding of participants; blinding of outcome assessors; handling of incomplete data (use of intention-to-treat analysis); selective reporting and any other risk of bias." [1]

Also, the result was only statistically significant for poor quality control groups that didn't engage in any shared activity:

"When the control group involved either no contact (eg, waiting list, usual care; pIn summary, a few poor quality studies with large bias account for most if not all of the effect reported in this meta-analysis.

[1] http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2017/03/30/bjsports-2016-0...

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Gym is marketing bullshit I totally disagree. While you can absolutely get fit without a gym, it's difficult to serious build muscle mass without lifting weights.

But we're talking about health, not muscle mass.

Also, you don't need a gym to use weights. A few dumb-bells and a pull-up bar are cheap enough and easy to stow away at home.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Precisely, one should quit all excuses! My father was prescribed to storvas (for cholesterol) over a decade ago... luckily he is an avid reader and soon found out what road the permanent meds lead to. He quit the meds and started working out consistently (never mind spondylitis which he combatted with bed rest) for 10 years (and still continuing). Today, he's over 50 and is killing it in every aspect in life. His min…

Is "to storvas" a typo? I can't tell what that is, and Google isn't helping. I don't understand what the result of those meds would be without know what those meds themselves are.

Sorry, storvas is the brand name for Atorvastatin here in India.

Similar to Lipitor in the states I think.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#159
post #47
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The gym I go to is open 24x7 and there are people leaving when we arrive and I thought we were early.

I remember going to gold's gym in austin (this would have been in the 90's, no idea if gold's is still there) at 5am, and some of the people there were already well into their workouts, if not also leaving for the day(!).

We still have a number of Gold's in Austin, but the one by my office is 5AM–10PM on weekdays, so no one is finishing up at 5am.

Re: Exercise 'keeps the mind sharp' in over-50s, study finds

#160
Purely anecdotal: I'm in my early 30s and find a brisk run to have a huge positive effect on my mental function and general energy levels for the rest of my day (I work in biotech and spend half my day in the lab, half behind a screen). In fact, I noticed this difference my very first (pitiful) day of running.
Post reply on HN