[LUM#4] Move more, age less
Is physical activity the key to eternal youthfulness? In any case, it's the surest way to a healthy old age. Excellent news in a world where life expectancy continues to rise...
For a long time, the third age was the last age. " Even in the 1970s, anyone over 65 was considered an old man," explains Jean-Marie Robine. " At the time, we thought we had reached the end of human longevity," recalls the head of the "Longevity and Vitality" team at the " Molecular Mechanisms in Neurodegenerative Dementias " laboratory. Yet life expectancy continues to rise. It now stands at 86 years for women and 78 years for men, putting France at the top of the European podium.
Healthy aging
So much so that a new category has emerged: the fourth age. And why not soon the fifth? After all, life expectancy continues to rise, increasing by 3 months every year. " The fourth age is getting longer, with its inevitable share of physical difficulties," warns Jean-Marie Robine. While life expectancy continues to rise, "disability-free" life expectancy, as researchers call it, is stagnating. And France is not doing so well. " We may lead Europe in terms of life expectancy, but we only come tenth in terms of disability-free life expectancy," explains Grégory Ninot, Director of the CEPS Platform, a center for the evaluation of preventive health programs and non-drug interventions.
And when it comes to the ravages of time, we're not all equal... While some centenarians continue to ride their bicycles every morning, some septuagenarians are already struggling to get around. Where does this inequality come from? It's partly due to genetic factors: these account for 25% of the quality of aging. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. For the remaining 75%, lifestyle is the determining factor. This is good news, because while it is - as yet - impossible to modify one's genetic inheritance, it is possible to adopt behaviours that promote better ageing.
Pierre Louis Bernard, a researcher at EuroMov, the European center for movement research, and Grégory Ninot examine the effects of physical activity on advancing age. " The practice of physical activity leads to a very significant improvement in autonomy and quality of life ", emphasize the specialists. However, there's no need to prepare for a marathon: the researchers recommend regular moderate physical activity such as walking, ideally 5 30-minute sessions per week. What counts above all is regularity", explains Grégory Ninot,"for the rest, there is no perfect recipe, the ideal is to offer personalized care ".
Tailor-made physical activity
This "tailor-made" approach involves assessing the state of health of elderly people with them, in order to offer them physical activity adapted to their needs. The "Balance and fall prevention to improve the autonomy of the elderly" program initiated as part of the Macvia project builds on this personalized prevention approach. " This program, set up in partnership with the Montpellier University Hospital, involves meeting each elderly person in their municipality to assess their individual functional capacities and program suitable physical activities ," explains Pierre Louis Bernard. The aim is to reduce the risk of falls, one of the main causes of hospitalization and dependency among the elderly.
"Physical activity helps people to take charge of their own health, and allows them to play an active role in their own ageing ," adds Pierre Louis Bernard. And even if you're an inveterate sedentary person, the specialists remind us that it's never too late to do the right thing: " whatever the age at which you start exercising or your state of health, physical activity always brings tangible benefits ".
Conscientious ages better
What if our personality influenced our aging? " There are personality traits associated with an increase or decrease in age-related decline," explains Yannick Stephan of the Epsylon laboratory. People who are conscientious, highly organized and show a strong tendency towards self-discipline, for example, are more likely to age well. "This is probably because being conscientious leads them to adopt fewer risky behaviours - smoking, drinking, sedentary lifestyles, poor diet, etc.," explains Stephan, a researcher specializing in the psychology of health and aging. This is in contrast to anxious people, who show a high level of emotional instability. " Anxious people are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease or Alzheimer's," he explains. Should we change to age better? We can't change people's personalities," stresses Yannick Stephan, "but we can identify those at risk and put in place a preventive approach to improve the quality of aging .
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