Published ahead of print on June 5, 2003, doi:10.1164/rccm.200208-954OC Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Volume 168, Number 4, August 2003, 494-499 A more recent version of this article appeared on August 15, 2003
Submitted on August 28, 2002 Delaying Decline in Pulmonary Function With Physical Activity. A 25-year follow upMargit Pelkonen1*,1 Public Health and General Practice, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland; Pulmonary Diseases, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland, 2 Epidemiology and Health Promotion, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland, 3 Human Genomics Laboratory, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA; Research Institute of Public Health, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland, 4 Pulmonary Diseases, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland, 5 Public Health and General Practice, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland, 6 Epidemiology and Health Promotion, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland; Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: margit.pelkonen{at}uku.fi.
The importance of physical activity for health is well recognized, but little is known about the influence of physical activity on pulmonary function. We have examined if physical activity could slow down the decline in pulmonary function among the southwestern rural Finnish cohort of the Seven Countries Study. Physical activity was estimated by kilometers walked, cycled, and skied daily. We had complete data for 429 men for 10 years, 275 men for 20 years and 186 men for 25 years. During the first 10 years, the decline in forced expiratory volume was 9.8 ml/yr less among men in the highest tertile of baseline physical activity than in men in the lowest tertile. According to the mean physical activity over either 20 or 25 years, men in the highest tertile also lost less pulmonary function (p=0.009 and p=0.043, respectively). A similar beneficial effect was observed in all smoking categories. In mortality analysis continued high physical activity and an increase in activity to high level were associated with lower mortality. In conclusion, results indicated that physical activity is associated with a slower decline in pulmonary function and with lower mortality, and thus middle-aged and older people should be encouraged to enjoy exercise. Key words: pulmonary function, forced expiratory volume, physical activity, smoking, mortality
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