Running adds years to life – study

RUNNING for just five to 10 minutes a few times a week could add three years to your life, researchers have found.

They say gentle exercise is as important for good health as stopping smoking.

A study over 15 years of 55000 people aged between 18 and 100 found that joggers overall were 30% less likely to die during the period than couch potatoes. They were 45% likely to die of a heart attack or stroke.

But those who only took a gentle trot three times a week cut their chance of death from a heart attack or stroke by 61% slightly more than those who ran twice a week. The findings, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, show that even a small amount of exercise is beneficial. The biggest reduction in mortality was seen in the group doing a little exercise compared with those who did none. – The Daily Telegraph