New JAMA Study Highlights Mobility Limitation as Key to Healthy Aging
A review of clinical articles published between 1985 and 2012 confirms that increased physical activity and exercise are extremely important for healthy aging, announces Ethical Alternative Products, supplier of premium performance nutritional products focused on maintaining functional ability in older individuals.
Wyckoff, NJ (PRWEB) September 26, 2013
A clinical review from geriatricians at the University of Alabama at Birmingham suggests that mobility limitations are a litmus test for healthy aging and urges primary care physicians to take a more aggressive role in ascertaining the mobility of their older patients. The study, authored by Cynthia Brown, M.D. et al., was published Sept. 18, 2013, in theJournal of the American Medical Association. Brown* said mobility limitations are often an early sign of impending functional decline in seniors, and that recognizing an increase in those limitations at an early stage creates the opportunity for successful interventions aimed at warding off functional decline and keeping seniors living independently for as long as possible.
“Mobility limitations are the edge of that slippery slope that leads to loss of function,” said Brown. “A decline in mobility seems to quickly lead to an across-the-board decline, including the routine activities of daily living. Mobility is a sort of barometer for how well an older person ages.”
“Two of the primary biological reasons why older individuals experience mobility limitations are a gradual decline in neuromuscular function and degenerative joint disease,” stated Gerald Bruno, Ph.D., CEO and Senior Scientist at Ethical Alternative Products. “Oxidative stress, which is implicated in many chronic diseases associated with aging, is believed to be the primary cause of degeneration in the neuromuscular junction, and the associated loss of muscular function. This degeneration of the neuromuscular junction can be reduced by physical activity and a diet rich in anti-oxidants,” stated Bruno.