Seniors gain gut protection.Senior citizens who garden may reap more than just a verdant ver·dant adj. 1. Green with vegetation; covered with green growth. 2. Green. 3. Lacking experience or sophistication; naive. landscape. A new study shows that regular, moderate exercise -- such as gardening or walking -- can reduce an older person's risk of suffering serious intestinal bleeding. Compared to middle-age adults, seniors are five times as likely to be hospitalized for gastronintestinal hemorrhage hemorrhage (hĕm`ərĭj), escape of blood from the circulation (arteries, veins, capillaries) to the internal or external tissues. The term is usually applied to a loss of blood that is copious enough to threaten health or life. . Jack M. Guralnik of the National Institute on Aging The National Institute on Aging is a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, located in Bethesda, Maryland. Formed in 1974, NIA's mission is to improve the health and well-being of older Americans through research. It is the primary U.S. in Bethesda, Md., and his colleagues decided to study the link between exercise and this common condition in the elderly. The team surveyed 8,205 senior citizens. The study revealed that participants who walked, gardened, or engaged in some other activity at least three times a week slashed their risk of developing a serious intestinal hemorrhage by about 40 percent compared with their less-active peers. The researchers describe their results in the Aug. 24/31 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, published 48 times per year by the American Medical Association. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. . Guralnik believes the protection conferred by exercise makes sense: Regular exertion exertion, n vigorous action, a great effort, a strong influence. may boost blood supply to the gut and thus ward off intestinal damage. |
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