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Are the Benefits of Exercise for Seniors Comparable to Medicine?

Improved health is one of the many benefits of exercise for seniors.

If you made a resolution in January to work out more this year, hopefully you’re continuing to stay with it! Adding extra physical activity to your everyday activities is one resolution we should all be putting into action. For seniors, many of whom take a variety of medications for various health problems, this is particularly true. As the top provider of in-home care services in Austin and surrounding areas, we’re excited to share research that shows new benefits of exercise for seniors.

Studies are revealing that, surprisingly, physician-approved senior workout routines can be as helpful as typically-prescribed medications in preventing or treating many of the leading causes of death. In one study, researchers compared the benefits of exercise vs. medication. The results consistently revealed that both medicines and exercise shared essentially the exact same results in decreasing deaths in people who had previously been identified as having a number of common and severe health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. 

For example, the study found that people with heart disease who exercised but didn’t use commonly-prescribed medicines, such as angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors, statins, or antiplatelet drugs, had a similar risk of dying from — or surviving — cardiovascular disease as people who were taking those medications.

Researchers also outlined how rarely health care professionals “prescribe” exercise as an effective medical intervention. Huseyin Naci, a graduate student at the London School of Economics and Political Science, along with Dr. John Ioannidis, director of the Stanford Prevention Research Center in the Stanford University School of Medicine, worked jointly on the study, determining that, according to Naci, “We are not suggesting that anyone stop taking their medications. But maybe people could think long and hard about their lifestyles and talk to their doctors about whether exercise could and should be incorporated into their care.” 

At CareFor, we love helping seniors stay as active as they possibly can, while enjoying the best possible quality of life. As the most highly-regarded provider of in-home care services in Austin and surrounding areas, we are happy to provide transportation and accompaniment to exercise classes as well as companionship to encourage, motivate, and make exercising enjoyable. Also, we provide many other home care services that are specifically personalized to meet each senior’s unique fitness and health goals.

Call us at (512) 338-4533 to discover more about how we can help improve the overall health and wellbeing for a senior you love! Whether you need only a couple of hours of support each week, full-time, 24-hour care, or anything in between, a perfectly matched caregiver can provide the ideal amount of care to help a senior you love thrive in the comfort of home.

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