|
 Members of the Spanish Menopause Society, Spanish Cardiology Society
and Spanish Federation of Sports Medicine came together to draft
recommendations on physical activity for older women and reviewed
the quality of evidence for the various possible health benefits of
exercise.
“There is much literature suggesting the favorable impact of
physical activity in several organs and systems, like for example,
the cardiovascular system, bone health, and even cognition,” said
Dr. Antonio Cano Sanchez of the University of Valencia, coauthor of
the new consensus statement published in Maturitas.
They concluded that impact and resistance training can improve bone
health, an important issue in postmenopause, but walking likely does
not improve bone health, though many older women prefer it to other
activities.
Resistance exercise helps maintain muscle mass and function,
improves flexibility and balance, and can correct disability, they
write. Losing muscle mass is common during and after menopause.
Specific types of activity like Pilates may improve balance and
reduce the risk of falls, and exercise in general helps maintain
normal arterial pressure or lower it when it’s high, as well as
improving cardiovascular health.
Higher amounts of exercise have been tied to lower risk of dementia,
anxiety and depression, to improved sleep quality, and to less pain
for women with fibromyalgia or breast cancer. High-intensity
interval training, Pilates and resistance training appear to be the
best physical activities for postmenopausal women, the authors
conclude.
The benefits of exercise are most evident when people exercise
consistently over a long period of time, they note.
“The good thing with physical activity is that even a little has a
substantial benefit,” Cano told Reuters Health by email. “Physical
activity is a crucial factor in every strategy for healthy aging.”
Women may consider menopause an appropriate time to implement
healthy lifestyle, which should include being active, he said.
Integrating physical activity into everyday life with walking or
climbing stairs is a good start, he said.
One study in Britain found that women doing any physical activity
between three and six times a week obtained optimal benefits for
coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease or blood clots, he
said.
[to top of second column] |
“Protection against the loss of bone mass might require more
strenuous exercise but, even in this case, some light daily physical
activity may provide protection against the risk for falling, which
will make as much difference as the bone density against the event
of a fragility fracture,” Cano said.
“A plethora of randomized controlled studies determined the positive
effect of 'exercise' on risk factors, diseases or complaints related
to menopause or increased age,” said Dr. Wolfgang Kemmler of the
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany, who was not part of the
new study. “However, 'exercise' is a rather comprehensive term:
there are numerous variations of exercise regimen that may emphasize
speed, strength, power, endurance, or coordination.”
Most postmenopausal women and elderly people in Germany and the U.S.
fall far short of exercise recommendations, he told Reuters Health
by email.
“Thus, the critical issue is much more, whether a single
multi-purpose (weekly) exercise program conducted with reasonable
exercise frequency (2-3 sessions) and duration (45-60 min) is
effective in reducing the most important postmenopausal risk factors
and complaints,” he said.
Mixing endurance, general coordination and resistance exercise is
the best choice for postmenopausal women, Kemmler said, including a
balancing aspect for older or less functional women.
“We strongly suggest group exercise classes supervised and led by a
certified instructor,” he said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1quPTEs Maturitas, online April 26, 2016.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
