Physical activity appears to be associated with a reduced risk or slower progression of several age-related conditions as well as improvements in overall health in older age, according to a commentary and four articles published in the January 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals...

Four new studies published in a leading journal this week link exercise with healthy aging, either through reduced risk or slower progression of several age-related conditions or through improvements in overall health in older age, and detail associations between physical activity and cognitive function, bone density and overall health...

Athletes who extended their nightly sleep and reduced accumulated sleep debt reported improvements in various drills conducted after every regular practice, according to a research abstract presented on June 8, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Results of the study indicated that sleep extension in athletes was associated with a faster sprinting drill (approximately 19.12 seconds at baseline versus 17.

Patients with heart failure who participated in aerobic exercise training had modest improvements in self-reported health status compared to those patients who did not have exercise training, according to an article appearing the April 8 issue of JAMA. Patients with heart failure often experience diminished health status, including reductions in physical and social functioning and other dimensions of health-related quality of life.

Those suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often complain that exercise is too exhausting and leaves them breathless. An article in the current issue of The New England Journal of Medicine reports that supervised exercise through pulmonary rehabilitation can actually reduce their feelings of breathlessness, increase their tolerance for exercise and improve their quality of life. The article's lead author is Richard Casaburi, Ph.D., M.D.