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Study: Exercise Helps Reverse Aging

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

May 22 - KGO (KGO) -- Interesting new research finds there may be a way to actually reverse aging. A simple intervention may be able to make you younger.

At the Rossmoor Fitness Center, exercise is a way of life.

Beth Cation, exerciser: "I can do 30 minutes of this and never feel tired."

These seniors say flexing their muscles makes them feel healthier and happier. Erik Haak is 86.

Erik Haak, exerciser: "It really perks me up. It perks me up."

Jim Lagier, exerciser: "It's a high you get on to, you feel exuberant and you have a sense of wellness about yourself after you finish exercising."

New research by The Buck Institute on aging finds exercise may do more than make you feel good. It may actually reverse the aging process.

Simon Melov, Ph.D., Buck Institute Director of Genomics: "We all know that exercise is good for you, but we never knew that exercise made you younger."

Researchers tested a group of healthy young people with the average age of 21 and a group of healthy older people, average age 70. No surpise -- the seniors had about half the muscle strength of the young people. But after exercising twice a week for six months, the seniors closed the gap and developed almost as much strength as the young adults.

But the real surprise took place at the cellular level. Researchers took leg muscle samples from both groups before and after exercising and extrapolated the genes.

A micro-array chip contains the complete genetic profile of one leg tissue sample.

Dr. Simon Melov: "We found if the older people exercised, their genetic fingerprints were reversed back to that of younger people."

A graph shows the changes. The white line represents the baseline for younger genes, with a senior's genes shown in green far below the line. But with exercise, shown in yellow, this senior's genetic profile now exceeds that of the youthful levels. So at the genetic level, exercise made seniors younger. Pretty remarkable.

Dr. Simon Melov: "What we see here is first indications that a specific intervention can reverse aspects of aging in human beings."

Rossmoor's Lester Rodney may be living proof.

Lester Rodney, 96-year-old exerciser: "I'm 96, born the year before the Titanic went down."

He just gave up tennis and now does strength-training three times a week -- perhaps getting younger with every rep.

To learn more about the Buck Institute's study, click here.

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